With Darkness Comes Anew
by Alia D
Summary: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world. SLASH sooner or later
1. A new beginning

Alia: Okay, boys and girls! I told you I was going to do it and I did. Have fun!

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 1?

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: Not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language, character deaths( just two)

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Shame on me. And I'm not done with my other fics but this should be done. I was reading a fic where poor Harry, who I have been treating badly lately, was arrested and sent to Azkaban after being framed for a murder or something. I was sitting one day thinking about a story line involving Severus adopting some brats (a loving nickname for my sibs), when this gave me an actual reason for Severus to leave the wizarding world and someday return. Harry isn't a bastard in this one either. Albus and the others, however... This begins two years after the Trio leaves Hogwarts.

With Darkness Comes Anew

It was much quieter than it had been last time. There had been screams of absolute terror mixing easily with the wails of the prisoners driven insane by the Dementors.

He hadn't been there for too long of course. Albus had made certain that his spy would be sane enough to face Voldemort should the monster rise again. And for one of the few people he trusted, Severus had gone back and faced the creature that the man once known as Tom Riddle had become.

He'd gone back to being played by two masters, despite the fact that he cared for one because he was the closest thing he'd ever have to a father. He'd returned to doing his morning activities without looking at himself in the mirror. He'd also embraced the self-hatred he'd thought was long gone. He continued his self-destruction with no one giving a damn why it was happening.

But he'd done what he did for honorable reasons. He wanted redemption for the mistakes of his youth. He wanted to stop the death of the innocents who had once died by his hands. He wanted to stop the monster who was the bane of nearly every witch and wizard's existence.

And it had worked. After the Dark Lord had returned, Severus spied on him for six years until the final battle. Of course, it was what happened mere days after that battle that landed him back in Azkaban. It was the start of a long string of events that landed him where he was. It was horrible to think that once free from Voldemort, he was placed in Azkaban by his own allies.

/Allies/ He snorted mentally. Severus looked around through the darkness then sighed silently. He hadn't seen light in over a week...if he was right about how many days had passed. It had been night when they'd thrown him in his cell.

One of the guards had thought it funny that they would stick him in the worst area of the dungeons. Severus himself could see a small bit of irony, but he'd stopped feeling any kind of emotion so the guard didn't quite get the effect he wanted.

He was numb now. The cell was almost nothing but a box big enough for him to shift in. The ceiling was too low for him to stand, not that sitting was great. The floor was damp and the walls wore some type of slimy film. That didn't keep him from sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall trying to see out into the endless darkness that surrounded him.

Severus shifted in his seat. He planned to go to sleep. At least that was something. He never had time to sleep much with spying and his teaching responsibilities. Severus snorted into the darkness and listened to it reverberate. He had years to catch up on all the missed sleep in the last six years. He had a lifetime actually.

Flinching as a distant noise became more pronounced, Severus shifted his stance. He moved further back into his small cell and further away from the thick bars. Severus squinted his eyes as the darkness slowly began to recede. It wouldn't seem much to some but to someone who'd been in total darkness for the last week or more...

Severus held his breath as his eyes adjusted to the mellow light that came his way. It was different than the light from fire so it would be a wand. As he thought this, Severus thanked whatever god that hadn't forsaken him yet that he was still sane, even if he was filthy and starving.

Finally, it was bright enough to see the figure cloaked in black that stood before his cell. The person's wand (for Severus could not tell their gender) had a weakened lumos to illuminate the hall his cell faced. Apparently they'd taken it into consideration that he'd been in the dark for so long. Not that it was the first time. Figuratively and literally.

A small cry came from the cloaked figure as they knelt before his cell. "Oh thank god! You're alright!" was whispered into his cell.

Severus's eyes narrowed although he flinched when the wand's light brightened. "Potter?" he croaked weakly. The figure nodded. Taking a step back, Harry Potter removed the hood of his cloak.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here Potter?" he croaked weakly as his eyes adjusted. The green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. He could clearly see the frown mar Potter's face. "I came to apologize and to get you the hell out of here."

Severus looked at the figure before him and wondered if he was hallucinating. "What do you mean 'Get you the hell out of here.'?"

Potter's eyes darkened and Severus felt the air begin to cackle with magic. "You shouldn't be here. They had no right to do such a thing! As if it was even believable!" he hissed angrily.

Severus watched for a moment before whispering, "Why do you really care? Don't you believe everything that they tell you? I'm surprised that you don't believe it. You have always believed the worse of me. Why are you here, Potter? If you want retribution or forgiveness, it will not come from me."

The young man closed his eyes momentarily. "I'm doing what I think is right, that's all." Severus didn't believe a word of it.

Potter placed his wand on the lock. "Alohomora." The door of the cell opened easily as Potter pulled on the bars. Severus looked at the young man standing for moment before slowly, and quite painfully, making his way out of the small cell.

Potter gave him a hand up and Severus groaned low as muscles protested the action. Potter looked down the darkened hallway with his wand in hand. "We have to go. We can't possibly stay here."

Severus later found himself in a small flat. Potter had apparated the both of them here and unfortunately, Severus had no idea where here was. He watched as Potter opened a small closet and took out a rather large bag.

"Here. Take the duffle bag." Catching the large duffle tossed at him, Severus watched Potter rush into another room then come back out a minute later with muggle clothes: pants, jacket, shirt, and shoes. "Put these on. I don't think you'll have much more time. I'm not sure if the guards have been monitoring you. They may know that you aren't there anymore." Severus hesitated then began dressing in Potter's living room.

Potter blushed then turned around. Severus found it slightly funny that the boy- young man- would blush at his changing clothes after he'd broken into a wizarding prison, taken a prisoner, and was obviously helping him get away.

"Done." Severus saw Potter glance over his shoulder to be sure of Severus's clothed state. Potter smiled at him. "It seems that you're ready to go Professor." His look saddened. "You can't go back to the Wizarding World. I don't think you'll ever be able to go back."

Severus flinched at not being able to return to the only world he'd ever known. But of course, it wasn't easy to forget that this world had betrayed him time after time in his life. He looked at Potter closely. "Why?"

The young man dropped his eyes. "Because I'm ashamed of what they did. Because I know you would never do something like that. Because I trust you with my life and I trusted you with hers." The last few words were whispered.

"You saw the evidence Potter. Even Dumbledore believes that I did it." And admitting that hurt terribly. The man who had been his only friend, who knew him better than anyone, easily believed that Severus was a murderer.

"There had been evidence against Sirius and none of it was right."

"Damn it, Potter, if they even think-,"

Potter shook his head. "They would never think it was me and you know it. Severus-," He stepped closer to the older man. "You've saved my life, more than once. We don't have much time for my explanations so if you want consider it my payment of a life debt. You need to leave quickly because they may look here. If only to see if you came to finish the job," muttered Potter with a grimace.

Severus frowned at that, knowing just how true it was. "Fine. I'll take your payment but where will I go Potter? I am now consider a fugitive to all the Wizarding World. I have no money and certainly no place to live."

Potter smiled at him again. "I called in a couple of favors. It's a good thing you had so much money in Gringott's. The goblins have done business with your family for years. They transferred money from a private account you had apart from the family vault. They turned all of it into muggle money." Potter dug for something in the pocket of his robes.

He handed Severus a large envelope. Giving the man before him a look, Severus opened it and shook a few cards out. Potter had gotten him a license, birth certificate, background information, credit and bank cards, and other pieces of identification that he would need in the muggle world. He gave Potter a stunned look.

His former student laughed. "Like I said, I called in a few favors."

Severus shook his head, glaring at Potter. "You shouldn't have done this."

Potter raised his head and met Severus's glare head on. "I'm a grown man and despite what others think, I can make my own decisions. I do believe that I should do this. Besides, you shouldn't look a gift in the mouth."

Properly chastised, though he would not show it, Severus nodded. Potter took out a key. "If you have any questions, about the Muggle world..."

"I may be ignorant at some things Potter, but I have been in the Muggle world before and survived."

"But this might be forever."

Severus said nothing. He would reveal nothing about his past to Potter, even though the boy had just gotten him out of Azkaban.

Potter cleared his throat. "They'll be looking for you by now. You'll have to find a flat to live and you'll have to change your appearance enough that you won't be recognized." He gave Severus a key. "For a hotel. Just for a couple of days." He glanced at a clock that read 'Time is running out'. "You have to go. Likely that they're looking for you."

Severus looked at Potter a moment before walking toward the door. Potter continued. "The hotel is about a mile away. The Shipton." Severus stopped at the door.

"Be careful Professor- Severus."

The older man turned and looked at him. "Thank you Harry." Severus slipped out of the door.


	2. Painful Discoveries

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 2

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language, character deaths (just two)

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a flashback. The story will from now on take place five years after Severus escaped.

With Darkness Comes Anew

**Flashback: Three Years Before**

The large group that had arranged themselves in the Headmaster's office sat calmly awaiting information from the nervous Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley. The Minister had just flooed in and was pacing the floor frantically, worrying both his wife and children with his behavior.

Dumbledore, Moody, and the other members of the order such as Lupin, Black, Shacklebolt and Tonks each sat in their chairs also becoming worried at Arthur's antics. The man never acted like this before, and if he had, never had he done it to such a degree.

Against the wall stood the Golden Trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley. The three former Hogwarts students watched the actions of the Order Members with curiosity. Something was most definitely wrong and so far the only person who knew it was the Minister of Magic.

Finally, after expending a good amount of his nervous energy, Arthur collapsed into a chair beside his wife. Molly immediately took his hand, offering comfort but Arthur just smiled weakly.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, Arthur, if you've quite finished, I think the rest of us would like to hear what has you so worked up."

The man looked at the Headmaster. "Albus, I really wonder if it would be the best for everyone to know. This is one thing none of us can change."

Molly squeezed his hand. "Dear, what is wrong?"

Arthur sighed. "Perhaps it would be better if I went about explaining things as they took place." He stood and held up his head but even as he did it, he continued looking like a defeated man. "Three death eaters were apprehended yesterday. It was a very good thing because it was Malfoy, his son, and Nott."

There were mummers of approval all around the room. Malfoy had been trying to reorganize the Death Eaters for years now but if he'd been captured that would either stop his plotting or at least place a hold on them.

Arthur nodded then continued. "We took turns interrogating them. It was young Malfoy who let it out first. We didn't understand him in the beginning."

"What did you ask him?" asked Moody with a gruff voice.

"We had a list of Death Eaters, either in Azkaban or still on the run that we would sometimes ask them about. Snape was on the list."

The name grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. Some eyes swerved to the members of the Weasley family while others fell onto the Boy-Who-Lived. Molly's breath hitched a few times before she could regain her composure. Her husband and sons remained silent as their thoughts fell to the deceased Virginia Weasley. Harry kept his eyes to the floor not wanting to meet anyone's eyes.

Remus cleared his throat. "Arthur, what did Draco Malfoy say to the aurors?" He squeezed Sirius's hand as the man watched his godson with worry.

Minister Weasley looked around and wondered how his words would be perceived. "One of the Aurors asked him for information on Snape. Malfoy remarked that he had nothing to do with the traitor and that he got what he deserved. We thought he was talking about Azkaban so he was asked what he meant. He was placed under Veribasum so he wasn't lying. Young Malfoy said that...that his father had punished the traitor."

Albus was suddenly worried. He didn't like the implication that Arthur was slowly feeding them. The man's nervous and unsettled demeanor unnerved him. Albus knew he wasn't going to like the outcome. "I think you had better continue, Arthur." His stern voice tried to hide his fear.

"Lucius Malfoy was interrogated immediately after. We wanted to see what his son had meant because we couldn't get anything else out of the boy. He didn't know what had happened exactly. Malfoy was given Veribasum and was questioned." Arthur's right hand began to shake.

The members of the Order watched the Minister of Magic and each of them felt something wrong. It was clawing at their stomachs and many took deep breaths to ease the sudden tightness in their chests.

Sirius spoke up. "Well, what did the bastard say? If anything Snape probably got what he deserved." Most of the people in the room, nodded and other gave sounds of agreement. They didn't expect Arthur's reaction.

The usually gentle yet determined eyes of Arthur Weasley darkened with anger. "Oh really. So he deserved what happened to him. Severus deserved to be betrayed by not only Malfoy but us as well!"

"Arthur!" cried Molly, shocked that the man would defend the man that murdered their daughter and almost killed their adopted son. Sirius and Moody jumped up and began cursing Snape. Only a few actually paid attention to what Arthur said. Albus and Harry were amongst them but Harry remained silent and kept his eyes to the floor.

The thoughts running through Harry's head made him dizzy but there was a dominant emotion. Hope, that he had been right for the last 2 years, that Severus had been an innocent man, that he hadn't been the one to attack and rape Ginny, that he hadn't been the one to murder the Weasley girl or try to kill him. /I knew it. I knew it/

Albus stood, power radiating from his form by anger...and not a small amount of fear. "Silence!" The room quieted down immediately and everyone took their seat including Arthur. Albus took a shaky breath. "What do you mean that we betrayed him? Arthur, Se-he killed your daughter. All of us saw the evidence at the trial."

Arthur shook his head. "Apparently, the case wasn't looked at too closely Albus. After we heard what Malfoy told us...Nott impersonated Snape. He used Polyjuice then...killed Ginny. Harry had just entered but didn't see the false Snape because he was knocked out immediately."

Ron was shaking with fury and confusion. "But it was there! They found him at the scene going for Harry! All the evidence was there! He raped and killed her! HE DID!"

Arthur looked at Hermione and the girl understood. "Ron, do you remember when we used that potion in second year. It gave you all of the physical aspects of the person you were impersonating. Since Nott impersonated Snape..." She broke off not able to go on. She didn't need to because Arthur summed it up.

"Nott was Snape that day. So all the physical evidence would point to him anyway." There was silence in the room for a long moment.

Tonks shook her head. "But Snape was at the scene of the crime. It was in the records. He wasn't here at Hogwarts either."

Arthur's eyes dropped. "All of us know that Severus had many enemies. In the Death Eaters and certainly the Ministry. We forget that Fudge personally saw over the investigation. And we know he hated Severus."

Hermione's eyes widened. "He fixed the trial. As if the physical evidence wasn't enough. Fudge and the aurors over the case didn't even investigate!" Arthur nodded.

"Dad..." The twins had remained silent up until this point. George spoke. "Snape was tested for potions or hexes on his person wasn't he?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes, but what curses was never brought up during the trial. Including a severe concussion from a blunt object, Snape had been cursed with Unforgivables. The Cruciatus and the Imperious. Both curses were cast more than once, the Cruciatus especially." He turned to the Headmaster. "Don't you remember why Snape wouldn't answer you Albus when you went to see him at the Ministry. From what I've found, he hadn't received any treatments yet and was still recovering."

Dumbledore had his head in his hands. He remembered demanding answers from Severus as he stood before the man's cell. He hadn't wanted to believe that Severus could do something like this but everything, including the man's own silence, had said it all. But apparently all of it had been orchestrated against Severus.

Arthur continued. "They took Snape and planted him at the scene of the crime still suffering and in pain. When the aurors arrived to find Snape heading toward Harry...We believe that he may have been trying to help, but we entered before he could."

Albus sat up and stared at his hands. /Innocent.../ Merlin...he'd locked away an innocent man...someone who was like a son to him. "What have we done?"

Harry watched silently as everyone saw a horrible mistake. A man that had fought beside them and for them for over twenty years, before Harry himself was born, had been betrayed by the light.

Albus stood shakily. "Arthur, we must get him out of there."

The man nodded. "It's already being processed. We should be able to release Severus tomorrow."

Harry said nothing but wondered how they would react to the empty cell.

**Three Years Ago - The next day**

Albus, Arthur, Remus, Ron and Harry went to Azkaban the day. Two aurors met them at the entrance. Both were dark haired men but while one had brown eyes the other had more of a hazel color. The brown eyed one looked much closer to retirement than his young partner. "Follow us, sirs. We'll take you right to him."

As they journeyed further down, Ron asked, "Just how far down is Professor Snape?"

The two men looked at each other then the older one answered. "The last level, in the dungeons."

Arthur Weasley stopped in his tracks. "But that area has no light at all." Snape had been in utter darkness for the last two years!

The younger of the two cleared his throat. "Yes sir. But someone goes down to give him food every day."

Dumbledore didn't look pleased at all. "We should hurry to Severus." The guilt of what happened was eating at all of them. As they continued down more stairs, he glanced at Harry. The young man had been silent throughout the entire situation. The only time he'd spoken was to demand that he come with them to free Snape. Albus only hoped that he would be alright seeing Severus after the last two years.

All seven wizards had to light their wands in order to see, though it wasn't too much help. Remus shivered. "How much farther." The cells were growing smaller and he began to wonder if they were really going the right way.

Harry watched as they finally made their way to the cell of Severus Snape, Potions Master and former Hogwarts Professor. A tray of food lay over a foot away from the cell. Totally untouched.

Albus moved his wand closer and he could see cobwebs on the bars of the cell. "It looks completely undisturbed. Both the cell and the food."

The two aurors stepped back at the anger on the Headmaster's face. The older wizard took out a key and opened the cell. It was empty and looked totally unoccupied. As if it had been for a while.

Arthur stared in shock before turning to the aurors. "Where is he!"

Both men began to shake their heads furiously. "Sir, we have no idea. We would have known if someone had gone."

"Was Severus an animagus?" asked Remus. Perhaps Severus may have escaped the same way as Sirius.

Albus shook his head. "No. He knew how but he never did it. And he only knew the theory not the practice." He turned to the aurors. "How could you not notice that he was gone!"

The older auror responded. "Sir, we have men that guard each floor of Azkaban. They check each cell on each floor."

Harry spoke for the first time since Snape's innocence was discovered. "There are no other prisoners on this floor? Is Snape the only one?"

The younger auror muttered, "We were ordered by Fudge to place him here. I don't know if there are others, however."

Ron cursed. "That's not important. What is important is that we find Snape! He could be anywhere."

Remus sighed. "Either that or...Ron, Severus apparently had a lot of enemies."

Albus asked. "Do you think he's dead?"

Arthur stared at the cell. "It's a very good possibility." He looked at the two aurors. "I'll deal with the two of you later."

**End Flashback**

Albus sighed wearily as he sat in his office staring at nothing in particular. Today was the anniversary of Severus's imprisonment. It had been three years since he'd found out about Severus's innocence. For a year, the Order had tried to find out what had become the fate of the Potions Master, but they'd found nothing. Many thought that Snape was dead while others hoped that he had escaped.

After the truth was discovered, one of the Order members, who still remains unknown, sent information to the Daily Prophet and the story was heard all over the Wizarding World. People were astonished at Severus's story and it did include not only what happened to the wizard, but of his help with the Order as a spy for over twenty years. Many, after having learned the truth, especially with the supporting evidence from Malfoy and Fudge, now considered Severus one of the heroes of the war against Voldemort.

Unfortunately, Severus would likely never know.

Albus looked up as Julius Fryers entered his office. "I'm sorry, Albus. I can come back at a later time."

The older wizard shook his head. "No, my boy. Come in." Julius took a seat. "Lemon Drop? Tea?" Julius smiled politely but shook his head. "Well, then Julius, what would you like to talk about?"

The wizard that stood before Albus smiled. He was 35 years old, about 5' 9"with a wiry frame. He had wild dark brown hair and amber brown eyes. His skin had a nice rosy complection and it also made him look very friendly. He wore a simple green robe with white shirt and black trousers. Many would never guess the man was like Remus Lupin: a werewolf.

Julius had been bitten when he was fifteen after getting lost from his family home. The boy's parents had been supportive and many were able to hide the fact that Julian was a werewolf for years, especially since the boy had taken a private tutor. The Wolfsbane Potion had been helpful in stopping the boy's wolf from going wild. After Julian had received a Masters in Charms, he had applied to Hogwarts though without much hope of being hired.

Albus had accepted the boy since Filius had retired the year before and the last teacher was hopeless. As long as he continued taking the Wolfsbane, which was often made by apothecary owners, he could teach at Hogwarts.

"Albus, I need to leave for the upcoming weekend." The weekend was two days away.

Dumbledore blinked surprised at the request. "I do not see why you cannot. But why? The year will be over soon."

"A month but I'm afraid that this can't wait just yet. It is of a personal nature and must be done as soon as possible."

Albus nodded. It probably had to do with the man's transformations. "Very well. Will you be leaving Friday evening?"

Julius nodded. "My transformation is just days away. We wanted to do this as soon as possible."

"Can you tell me what it is you-," he was cut off by the shake of Julius's head. "What can you say?"

"A friend through a friend is going to help me. I can't say how just yet...but I'm hoping for the best."

Albus watched the young man for a moment longer than necessary causing him to squirm slightly. "I see." He could hear exactly what the boy was saying. "Good luck, Julius."

"Thank you, Albus."

Julius hurried back to his quarters and opened his fireplace. "Brea Moorman!" A face came from the fireplace. The curiosity disappeared when the woman as she caught sight of him.

"Hey, Caesar!" He laughed. "What are you calling me for at this time of day? I may not have been here."

"Tell Lex that I'll be arriving there Friday evening."

Brea nodded. "Good. He was wondering if you would be able to get away. He couldn't close the shop so suddenly. And he'd hate to leave Emma and the twins behind."

Julius understood that. "Will you be going out tonight? To help out at Ash's?"

Brea shook her head. "No." She sighed. "I've done my duty for the last few days. Lex did his a few days before. We're letting Terry go tonight. I'm helping Lex."

"Do you think that this will work Brea?" he whispered anxiously.

With a laugh, she said, "You are a friend to Lex, Julius. And Mary loved you dearly. Lex has done it. Have faith in him." Her head turned slightly. "Now I have to go. I'm going to be late for work. Take care, baby."

"Bye love," he said with a laugh. Closing the floo, he turned and headed for his class with Ravenclaw and Slytherin third years.

TBC

Alia: Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Where the hell is she going with this? The answer is...I have no clue.


	3. Meet a few of the crew

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 3

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language, character deaths( just two)

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: If you have a problem understanding something, you'll find out sooner or later.

With Darkness Comes Anew 3

Julius looked at the calendar on the wall nervously. Then he glanced at the clock, then at the wall. He'd been repeating this process for the last twenty minutes and was irritating his girlfriend to no end.

He could see Brea's brown eyes glaring at him every few minutes while she lay on her white couch, propped against the arm, typing on her laptop. Mouthing he was sorry, he did it again: calendar, clock, wall.

A stifled sigh escaped Brea. Julius fidgeted and tried to stop. He managed for a full ten seconds before he did it again.

Brea slammed the top of her laptop down and glared at him. Julius flinched, not enjoying the fact that he was about to be on the bad end of Brea's temper.

He loved her with all his heart, since the day he'd met her in a muggle clothing shop a year and a half ago. Her calm and pleasant, even playful, demeanor drew him to her. Julius had no idea that under that playful yet cool appearance, was a hellcat. Brea's temper was something to be feared. And fear Julius did.

"If you do not stop fidgeting, I will petrify you, glue you to my ceiling fan, and turn it on high. Maybe you'll stop annoying me if you have something else to think about!" Watching Julius cringed at her temper, the African American woman sighed, then took a deep breath. "Baby, I'm sorry, but you are driving me nuts!"

He smiled and blamed it all on PMS. "I'm sorry, Brea...it's just that...today is the day, you know. I could be cured!" He moved from his chair across from her and knelt at her side. "We could marry. We could even have children."

Brea laughed at him. "You forget yourself my friend. Julius-," she sat the laptop on the table behind her. "I love you for who you are. And as mushy as it sounds, I love all of you. From my everyday Hogwarts teacher to the wolf that is part of you." She caressed his cheek. "Besides, you know I can't marry you until you have permission from Mother. And what makes you think I want children."

He laughed at that. She denied it with a passion but she did want children. He could see it whenever she was babysitting for Lex.

Brea looked up at her clock. "Lex should be up from his nap soon. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we woke him up a bit early." Julius smiled and kissed her cheek.

A groan gave a little echo through the room as the man in bed felt a gentle tug on his shirt. "Not now. Why are you not still asleep?"

A small voice giggled. "Aunty Brea and U'cle Caesar is here, Daddy. She told me to get you."

One weary, night blue eye opened and glanced at the playful blue ones in front of him. A long, but strong hand slipped out and roughly played with the black hair on the four year old's head. "Where's your brother, Xander?" Lex had just come from the shop and always took a nap the same time as Emma and the boys.

"Art is with Aunt Brea." Alexander watched his father sit up from the bed. His father was a tall, pale skinned man. He wasn't very muscular but he was strong enough to toss both Xander and Arthur around. The man ran a hand through the short black locks then followed the bouncing four year old from the room.

Lex smiled at Julius who was sitting on the floor playing with one of Alexander and Arthur's toys. He cleared his throat and smirked at the embarrassed man.

"Sorry Lex," muttered Julius.

He shook his head. "Apologize to the boys, Caesar. It's theirs. Besides your humiliation is more than enough to satisfy me."

Julius turned red. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Your welcome. Where is Brea?"

"In here!" a voice called out from the nursery. A few moments later, Brea came out with a small bundle followed by Arthur. The boy rushed over to sit by his twin on the couch. Little arms and legs swung and kicked from the inside of the blanket. Lex walked over and took the yellow bundle from Brea. He looked down at the dark brown hair and light blue eyes.

"Did Brea wake you up Emma?" The baby girl only cooed at her father in response.

Brea rolled her eyes and snorted. "She was already up. I changed and fed her."

"Thanks." He placed Emma in her basinet beside the couch. Turning, he looked right at Julius who was now standing. "Chiara will watch the children for me tonight. Go into the lab. There's a large vial with a gray liquid inside. It has your name on it. Drink that and we'll find out if the cure worked tonight. Xan, Art, go get your backpacks."

"Kay, Daddy!" Both boys rushed toward their room.

Lex watched Julius walk hesitantly toward the door of his lab, the former linen closet. Amazing what a little magic could do. He looked at Brea who had a sad expression on her face. She was a lovely woman, though not overly beautiful, with brown eyes, raven black hair like his, and a nice figure. Her brown skin had a lovely glow to it but at the moment...

"It will work, Brea."

"I trust you Lex. You're my brother. I trust you." She gave him a brief hug.

He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "Can you take care of Julius? I'm taking Emma and the boys down the hall to Chiara." Brea's nod of acknowledgment had Lex gathering Emma's diaper bag and picking up her bassinet with his hands. "Art! Xander!" The boys came running, both had toys in their hands, and packs on their backs. "Let's go."

Chiara laughed as the boys rushed in. Her flowing dark hair surrounded her face as she leaned down to greet the boys. "Xander, Art! How are my boys doing? I haven't seen you in years!"

Arthur giggled. "You saw us yesterday! You did, you did!" He cried as she shook her head in playful denial.

Lex smirked as Xander joined in on the chanting. Chiara was trying to pick up both boys and swing them a bit with her arms. For her profession, she was a very pleasant woman. "Thank you sister."

Chiara laughed. "No problem, Lex. You know how much I like them around."

He nodded. She was in her element with the children. Their innocence and happiness made her glow with pleasure

"How are things going with Julius?" she asked.

"He just took my cure. He's in the lab now. We'll know the final results tonight when the moon is full."

Chiara smiled brightly. She was literally bursting at the seems with delight. "I hope it goes well. For him and for you."

Lex deposited the quiet four month old girl and her bassinet on the couch. Turning, he gave each of his boys a kiss on the forehead and a hug. "Behave."

"Okay, Daddy."

Lex just gave both of them a look. He knew better than to expect his children to act correctly. Twins were just made to be mischievous.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Bye Daddy!" The twins cried as he headed for the door.

"Good luck, brother." Chiara closed the door.

Later that night, Lex looked out of the window. Surprisingly, all of them had fallen asleep instead of staying away to check the cure. He cursed his idiocy and lack of attention. /Something important might happen and I fall asleep! Fantastic./ he thought sarcastically.

Standing Lex made his way over to the large cage in the corner of his laboratory. Lying there, and snoring quite loudly, was Julius. A human Julius.

He smiled. After all the years of work, he finally did it. And now a good friend of his could be happy. With his beloved Brea. Lex frowned. His beloved sister Brea... /Hmmm./

Brea was in the corner, sleeping on a lounge that she'd transfigured from one of his cracked beakers. "Brea. Brea get up. You may want to see this."

Brea groaned then looked bleary eyed at Lex. "Wha?"

He merely pointed at the corner and watched the woman light up. Brea looked at the window at the full moon then back at the sleeping male human on the floor of the cage. "It worked."

She looked at Lex then threw her arms around him. Throwing her head back she cried out, "IT WORKED. GLORY HALLELUJAH!" Brea began jumped and twirling around the room laughing. "Oh god, you did it Lex!"

Lex rolled his eyes at her but grinned at the excitement on her face.

Julius shifted at the noise then opened his eyes slowly to see what the hell was going on. Brea was jumping around the room like crazy and was dragging poor Lex along with her. "Brea, what are you doing?"

Brea stopped and both her and Lex just smirked at him. He glowered at the couple and stood up. "What is with..." He was talking. He was speaking to them. He couldn't do that...not in wolf form. Julius looked down at his hands. Not paws...hands. "Oh Merlin!" He dropped to his knees and began to weep in happiness.

Brea opened the cage and held her sobbing lover in her arms. Lex watched her rock him back and forth, comforting him and standing with him. He smiled. Mary would have been pleased. He certainly was.

Lex walked from the room giving them their privacy. He called Chiara and told her the results. The Japanese woman was very pleased to hear of his success. She was practically squealing with excitement. Lex then called Terry and hoped that he would still be in. He left a message on the machine and decided to speak to Sarah and Ash when he spoke to Terry.

Brea came out a little later, her energy from earlier totally gone but she was still quite pleased. "Julius is asleep. He says thank you and congratulations."

Lex smiled at her but remained silent. She sat beside him on his couch. "Are you going to publish it?"

He shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. I did this for Julius. Besides there is still quite a bit to do. We need to see how good his control is and I want to make some more notes. Otherwise, Hogwarts is going to get quite a shock next term."

Time had passed since that night Julius got his cure. When he'd returned to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had tried to get some type of information from him on his week away but Julius managed to keep it quiet. Lex wasn't ready to publish his findings. Julius had to wonder if he would ever do it.

He also felt a bit guilty every time the other teachers, Lupin included, would look at him questioningly, but he never said a word to anyone. He wanted to surprise them.

It was the day after the first full moon of the new school year. Lupin was noticeably absent but Julius could feel everyone gaping as he walked in and sat down at the Head Table for breakfast. It took a long time and restorative potions for a werewolf to heal after transforming. Julius didn't need them any longer. He had transformed but not because he had to. He wanted to test out the painless transformation and see if he'd had any changes since the last moon.

For the first time ever, turning into a werewolf was a great experience. Lex had cured him of the loss of control: mentally and physically. His friend had said that the ability to turn into a werewolf should be a gift rather than a curse. And it was now. He still had the instincts and at some moments the aggressiveness of the wolf but he was still himself. He wasn't taken over and forced anymore. In other words, he and the wolf had merged in some ways. They now co existed in one form.

Even better was the prospect that he could now transform into the wolf at will. Lex said that he would be able to protect himself and he would have to do so someday if he wanted to become Brea's husband.

He smiled at the other teachers and the students as they watched him fill his plate and act as if it were just another day.

Albus, who was two chairs down from him, called out to the young man. "Julius, my boy, what are you doing up so soon? Didn't you-,"

"Transform last night? Oh yes. But I feel strangely exhilarated this morning and came right down to eat."

Dumbledore eyed him for a long moment before saying, "Does this have anything to do with that friend of yours, Julius?"

Julius smiled, "I'm afraid I can't answer that, Headmaster." He turned back to his food. Dumbledore was thankfully silent, but Julius knew that it wouldn't be the end of it. It wasn't.

Later that day, just after his last class ended, Black entered his classroom. "Hey, Julius!"

He smiled weakly, " Sirius." He didn't like the man all that much. Julius thought he acted too much like the children. Black was just too immature to hang out with for a long period of time. He was also one of the reasons he picked friends like Brea, Lex, Terry and the guys. All of them could be completely wild at one moment but more mature then most men Dumbledore's age at the next.

Sirius walked into the classroom, closing the door behind him. Julius took a deep breath to brace himself.

"So, I heard that you were up and running this morning."

Julius smiled and nodded with pleasure. He was still on high from his voluntary transformation.

"How are you feeling? You should be completely exhausted from your transformation last night."

"I'm fine thank you Sirius."

Sirius looked at him for a while, fidgeting in the spot where he was standing while Julius looked at him while a calm demeanor. Sirius cleared his throat. "So how did you manage that? I mean there is no way you should be up and running so soon. The last time you had a transformation at Hogwarts, you couldn't get up the next morning."

Julius chuckled. "You're right. I was practically bedridden at that time."

"So how are you so energetic now? Remus would love to be able to get up right after his transformation."

Julius frowned then sighed. "Sirius-,"

"Albus told us that you had to leave on a personal matter at the end of last term. That has to be why you're so healthy after a transformation."

Julius interrupted before he could continue. "Sirius, that is my personal affair. Truthfully, however," he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I will say that you are right. That trip is the reason I'm able to teach today."

Sirius's face brightened and Julius felt sick to his stomach. "Then you can help Remus!"

"No, I can't. Sirius, a friend of mine did something for me that he didn't have to. And in payment for that I swore that I wouldn't mention what was done until he was ready."

Sirius glared at him but Julius rolled his eyes at him. He'd seen worse from Lex and Ash. Now those were two men to fear. Terry was too soft hearted.

"Why can't you tell me? All I want to do is help Remus! I thought you were a friend of his."

"Though not particularly close, yes, I do consider Remus a friend. Unfortunately, my friend and I are almost family, and will be soon if I can marry his sister." Julius cursed himself for the lack of tact on that last comment.

Sirius looked at him curiously. "How can you possibly...you know werewolves can only marry other werewolves."

Julius glared. "This case is different, Sirius." The other man cut him off before he could continue.

"A cure...you bastard, you took a cure."

Julius would later curse the fact that he could not control himself for that one second. Because the look on his face was all Sirius needed to believe that it was true.

Sirius started toward him. "You have a cure and you haven't told anyone about it!"

"Sirius, I didn't say that-,"

The next thing Julius knew, he was being pushed up against the wall. "Son of a bitch! Fucking Bastard! How could you do this!"

Julius looked down at the eyes glaring up at him. Sirius was trying to choke his secret out. It looked like Julius was going to have to knock him out.

Both looked to the side as the door slammed shut again. More than likely a stunned student who was now going for help.

Julius watched Sirius growl at him as if his was in his animagus form. The man was a fool. He would not listen. "Sirius, let me go. Let me explain what I meant."

"NO! You don't have to explain. I understand perfectly. You just going to let all the other werewolves suffer while you enjoyed your life with you little whore! Well I don't give a fuck about what you thought! You're going to help Remus or we'll find a way and force that friend of yours to tell us!"

Sirius had just crossed a line. He didn't know it until it was too late.

Dumbledore, followed by Remus came running into the room. Standing across the room was Julius but Albus would not forget the look on the man's face for some time. Rage. Pure and simple. His amber eyes were actually glowing gold and his canine's were quite visible. If it weren't for the fact the man was obviously still standing, you would think he'd have transformed.

They stood near the middle of the class room. Albus saw the destruction of the classroom. There were overturned desks, chairs, and broken glass and torn papers litter the floor. In the middle of it all, Julius was holding a hurt Sirius at least five inches off the ground by his throat. "Julius," the Headmaster called cautiously.

Julius turned to look at Dumbledore then back at the bastard in his grasp. "What?" he growled.

Lupin and Dumbledore exchanged a look. The two wizards wondered what Sirius had done to piss off Julius to such a degree. The other man was not known to have an explosive temper. "May we ask what is going on?"

Julius was silent before he tightened his grasp around Sirius's neck. Deciding to answer Remus and deal with Black, he glared at the idiot he held. "You listen to me, you idiotic sanctimonious asshole. Don't you ever-and I do mean EVER- insult my chosen mate!"

Remus's eyes widened and he gaped at Sirius. Albus sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Sirius could be such an idiot.

"And you stay away from my pack. Do you understand that Sirius? You are not even allowed to speak of them in my presence." he asked the choking man. Julius knew very well that little air was getting to Sirius but wouldn't let go until he got an answer. Sirius nodded the best he could as he slowly turned red then blue. Julius smiled but managed to send a shiver down the spine of all three wizards. "Good." Dropping Black to the floor, unceremoniously, Julius stormed out of the room before he did something he would regret. Well, maybe not regret...

Bac k in the classroom, Dumbledore was demanding answers from Sirius while Remus helped his friend into a chair that was still standing nearby. "Why were you threatening him Sirius? I would think you knew better than to do such a thing."

As Sirius slowly tried to explain what happened, Remus took a good look at his best friend and flinched. Julius had done a number on Sirius if the bruises which were slowly turned blue and black were any indication. There was even a little blood. His head snapped up in shock when he finally tuned into the conversation between Sirius and Albus. "A cure!"

Sirius nodded excitedly while Albus seemed a bit more subdued. "Yeah, Remmy! That's why he's up so quickly." It had only been an hour ago when Remus had been able to leave bed. He would be the same way the next day and he was still weak even now. "He took a cure."

Remus looked to Albus. "It would seem to be correct Remus but from what Sirius tells me...Julius is not ready to admit to their being a cure and I think Sirius may be wrong, however, we will not know until we can get information from Julius. I think we should wait a while."

"But Albus!"

"I'm sorry Remus." Albus said raising a hand. "But you will only make him clam up more."

Both the younger wizards nodded in defeat as the wait began. Neither would expect that something even more important would come up.

TBC


	4. Potter luck strikes out

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 4

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: domestic abuse, angst, mild child abuse, language, character deaths( just two)

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: We're going back to Harry! YAY!

With Darkness Comes Anew 4

Harry fell to the ground laughing himself sick as he watched his best friend, Ronald Weasley, chase the two naked redheaded toddler boys around the front yard of the Burrow. Beside him was Molly Weasley, who was loudly admonishing her youngest son for losing the twins in the first place. Wiping tears from his eyes, he yelled, "Come on, Ron! You can do it!" Harry managed to sit up but fell back over laughing when one of the twins ducked out of the way and Ron went flying head first into the ground.

Molly was furious. Molly was also ranting. "Do you hear me, Ronald Weasley! I cannot believe that you are so irresponsible that you can't bath two children without losing them! They are just babies, for Merlin's sake!" she shrieked.

"How do you think Bill will react to this! You were suppose to be RESPONSIBLE for his children and you have them running amok around the Burrow! How are you suppose to become a father with such a lack of attention! I don't believe you left the children in the bathtub by themselves! Anything could have happened, this included. You catch those children this minu-," Molly screamed as one of the twins began rolling around happily in a large puddle of mud then jumped up and ran for the Burrow. "Ronald, stop him! He's headed back inside!"

Meanwhile Ron continued to run about the yard like some deranged hippogriff. Harry wasn't even sure his best friend was even chasing the twins anymore. Harry briefly wondered when Hermione would get here. After four years of marriage, Ron had begun begging for them to have a child...but after this little experiment, Harry was hesitant to think he'd be a godfather anytime soon.

A pop could be heard nearby! Then a shout and scream across from where he and Molly stood. Bill stood there stunned watching his children, covered with mud and grass, avoid their now hysterically screaming uncle.

After about fifteen minutes of calming down the twins and Ron, who took much longer, Arthur, accompanied by Hermione, arrived home with a small package. Molly kissed her husband. "What's that, dear?"

Arthur held it up. "This is for Harry, actually. Someone left it at my office at the ministry. It's from Gringotts apparently."

Harry blinked slightly confused but took the package. Usually, when Gringotts wanted to speak with you that sent a message. Those goblins never just shipped something out of their vaults. You had to come to them and get it, with permission of course, despite the fact that it was yours.

He took the package and sat down on the couch inside to open it. Ron, now fully recovered, sat beside his best friend. "What do you think it is?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know. I didn't think the goblins sent something to you like this. Don't you have to come and take it from them?"

Hermione nodded in confirmation. "This is a bit strange. Maybe you should check it for any hexes or anything. It could be a trick."

Harry took his wand out from his sleeve and began scanning for any hexes and curses on the package. Nothing. He looked at Hermione who shrugged. "It seems as if its safe."

"I guess so," muttered Harry. He was, however, still unsure. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong. He kept his wand out as he opened it.

Nothing happened. Shaking his head at his paranoia, Harry pulled out the simple vial within. There was a clear liquid inside. Hermione named it immediately.

Harry looked at her curiously. "Isn't pensieve liquid suppose to be in a bowl?"

"Usually," explained Hermione. "However, there are wizards who place their pensieves else where. I once heard of a witch that kept hers in a crystal vase."

Before Hermione could extend her lecture, Harry asked, "Whose do you think it is?"

"It could be your folks, Harry. Gringotts took it from your vault," said Ron.

His heart fluttering slightly at the thought that he could learn so much about his parents, Harry quickly removed the stopper of the vial. His heart sank when it turned black. Harry looked to Hermione and he suddenly became nervous when the girl looked confused. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"HARRY, LOOK OUT!"

Ron's cry came too late. Before the darkness totally engulfed Harry, he swore he could hear a familiar laugh.

* * *

Julius continued to nod as his followed Rose down the hall to the infirmary. The potions mistress had caught him in the hall moments ago and asked him to carry a large box of potions for Poppy's stores. The old witch (and that was not meant in a mean sense) had a rule about not using levitating or apparating spells on her potions. So being the gentleman he was raised to be, as it often made up for Brea not being a lady in any sense, he volunteered to help.

Rose was a step ahead of him and had just finished gossiping about one of the shop owners in Hogsmeade. That meant it was something Julius really didn't care to hear. Rose opened the door. "Hmmm...I wonder where Poppy is?" She called out for the mediwitch but got nothing but silence. Rose motioned Julius into the room. "I wonder where she's gotten to? Never mind. Put it there dear." She motioned him to the bed closest to Madam Pomfrey's stores.

Julius smiled as Rose thanked him. Both Potions Mistress and Charms Professor were turning to leave the room when the floo flared. Julius turned with his wand in hand while Rose Transt took a step back. Both she and Julius gasped.

Pomfrey burst into the room first. "Julius! Rose! Quickly, we'll need your help. Mr. Weasley, please take him to into one of the private rooms."

Julius was stunned. Lying in the arms of a Weasley was an unconscious Harry Potter. The lighting bolt was covered with blood, but so was the rest of the man. Potter had blood all over him, from head to toe. There was a gapping hole in his chest. Everything could be seen. His pumping heart was visibly showing but as Poppy began shouting demands, he knew the man still had a chance. A very slim one, but a chance nonetheless.

Poppy whirled toward him as Weasley followed by someone she called Miss Granger rushed toward a private room. "Snap out of it Rose! I need your help. Julius, I need to know if you can-,"

Julius was already running for the room. "Of course!" He already knew what she wanted.

Poppy turned back to Rose and began demanding potions. Julius began ignoring his surroundings as he raced for the room. Granger was sobbing in Weasley's arms as Potter continued bleeding to death. Julius pulled them away from the bed.

"Manere Sanguis Corpus!" A glow appeared around Potter before diminishing.

Julius gaped. That was one of the most powerful binding charms. "Shit." He pointed to both the now calmed, or at least no longer hysterical, Granger and Weasley. "Say the words with me this time." Potter was still losing blood quickly.

Julius, Hermione and Ron all tried again but to no avail. The spell continued to cancel. Poppy burst through the door.

"Julius, I thought-,"

"The spells won't work Poppy. Something keeps canceling it. Don't do anything yet. Give me a moment." Raising his wand, Julius began chanting. Something told him to use a strong scanning spell.

"Shit!" Julius looked at the young man mournfully. He'd never seen anything this bad before. This curse was dark. One of the darkest ever. THE darkest if you wanted to get technical. /Fuck! Who the hell had found this/ He cast a stabilizing charm then turned to Ron.

"I have a spell that will work. Potter will be stable for the time being, however, you'll be taking the brunt of his pain. The bleeding will stop but that will also increase the pain on you. Are you willing to do it?" He decided not to tell Weasley that this was a borderline curse he'd learned from a couple of friends.

Julius summoned forth a roll of bandages and charmed them to slow and stop the bloodloss. It wasn't nearly as effective as the other charm but apparently he wasn't able to use certain charms on Potter. A flick of his wand and they wrapped themselves tightly around Potter's chest.

Ron nodded. "Stand by the bed." After performing the spell, Julius sent Poppy to Ron's side. "Poppy, you can tend to him," Julius said, pointing at Ron.

Her eyes widened at him. "B-but what about Mr. Potter? For Circe's sake, he's dying!"

Julius sighed and explained what he'd done. "This is the only way. Poppy, I have heard of this curse before."

"A curse! What kind? I thought it was a potion." Hermione was obviously confused about what was happening. The woman was sitting by her husband who now lay asleep. Poppy had drugged him to stop the pain. Potter was momentarily stabilized.

Julius felt sick suddenly. "It was potion? Madam-," "Mrs. Weasley," "Yes, yes," he waved his hand absently. "Just tell me what happened."

Julius didn't know what to think when he got the entire story of what happened. The curse was meant to be worse than death...and it was. Unfortunately, he had never heard of anything like this. "We may have a problem."

The door opened again, this time to reveal Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley. Both men were pale and weary. Julius ignored them for a minute to turn to Pomfrey. "Heal him Poppy, but you're going to have to do it the muggle way. I've helped only a little. Close his chest and put some natural healing herbs in the wound. Pack them in if you can but do not use any magic on him or his wounds."

"Do you know what happened to him Julius?" asked the weary Headmaster. The old man was worried about Potter. Julius couldn't miss that fact.

The man nodded. "Yes Headmaster. I have an idea. Unfortunately, we have a large problem."

* * *

Feeling that everyone needed to be there to hear what was wrong with Harry, Albus called the Order of the Phoenix together in his office. Julius had never met any of the members before as they were no longer needed as much as they once were. He would usually be slightly nervous as he usually was but right now he had other things on his mind. He knew someone who could save Potter. Whether they would do it or not was the question. Hell, they were going to have his ass for even asking. "Shit."

"Julius!" The man's head snapped up and his eyes turned to the Headmaster. "Could you please tell us all what is happening to Harry?"

"Of course, Albus." The man stood but he ignored everyone as he began explaining. "From Mrs. Weasley's account, Mr. Potter received a potion earlier this morning. All three, Potter and the Weasleys, thought that it was pensieve liquid. From Mrs. Weasley's account, when opened, the liquid turned black and exploded. When things cleared, Potter was lying on the floor with a hole in his chest." He ignored a few gasps and some soft cries and continued.

"Potter was brought to the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey asked me to try and stop the bloodloss. Unfortunately, something kept canceling the spell even when it was done by the Weasleys and I. Potter could not be saved if we couldn't keep blood in him. I scanned him for any spells and I did find something." Julius suddenly looked defeated and the everyone else in the room became tense.

"Potter has a, well let me rephrase that, THE dark curse on him."

"What do you mean by THE? The darkest curse is the killing curse, isn't it?" asked Remus who sat beside his trembling friend. Sirius had been shaken ever since they saw Harry earlier in the infirmary.

Julius shook his head. "No. Just because its an Unforgivable, doesn't mean there isn't something out there worse. There are some things worse than death. This curse was meant to be just that."

He sighed. "It's not a well know curse. One reason is because the spell doesn't even have a true name. It has been lost over time. This is known as a vengeance curse. You're cursed because you can't die." He let that sink in before he said, "Historically, the curse was used as retribution. Say someone murdered a child. The mother would curse the murderer and he would always live with her feelings of hatred, sorrow, and pain. Mr. Potter is in for a very difficult time. So that you'll understand better, I'll tell you the consequences of the curse."

"Another reason that the curse is not well known is because it provides immortality. This is a curse that will make Potter immortal if it stays on long enough. Another reason it isn't known or even used is because of magical issues." H paused for a moment then continued. "Mr. Potter is now the equivalent of a squib. Potter will never be able to use magic again. Either on himself or on others. This is why I told Madam Pomfrey to use the muggle way of healing him."

A sob came from Molly Weasley in the corner of the room. Her husband was trying to comfort her while calming himself as well. Others in the room looked devastated. Hermione Weasley was also crying from her seat next to the Headmaster.

Julius continued. "Trying any type of magic on him will possibly kill him-,"

"What about the spell you used? To bind Harry's pain to Ron?" interrupted Hermione.

Dumbledore frowned. "That's a borderline curse, Julius."

Julius rolled his eyes. "No, really!" he snipped rudely. He then sighed and apologized to the Headmaster. He'd gotten Ash's bad habits. "Yes it was and I was going to explain before Mrs. Weasley interrupted me." Julius shook his head. "No. I'm lying. To be honest I wanted to spare you this. Potter can't use any light curses anymore. The only curses he can use or that can be used on his person are dark curses...or the unforgivables."

Sirius stood abruptly causing the chair he was seated in the fall to the floor. He stood there shaking before rushing from the room, more than likely to his godson's side.

Julius smiled grimly. "It's probably best that he wasn't around to hear this part. You can't curse yourself. Someone else has to. This curse has to be cast in not only absolute darkness but evil as well."

"Voldemort," whispered the Headmaster as he placed his head in his hands.

Before the others could comment, Julius kept talking. "Whoever cast it, wants Potter to live with their hatred forever. The caster placed every dark or evil thought they had into that curse and now all of them reside inside of Potter's head. His thoughts will slowly disappear into the background and the dark ones will be all that exist."

"This is the ultimate revenge because Potter will be driven slowly insane. His mind will be weakened emotionally by the circumstances he is in and it will be easy to overcome. What I'm saying that if something isn't done soon...Potter will become the next dark lord and I promise you no one will stop this one."

The emotions in the room became more pronounced for a minute. After a short while, everyone managed to calm down. Dumbledore stood. "Julius, is there anything that can be done?"

"The only person that can release the curse is the castor. Voldemort-," Julius ignored it when a few people still flinched. "-is dead so that's not going to happen anytime soon. However...I do know someone who may be able to help."

"Really?" A woman with fuchsia colored hair was bouncing in her seat excitedly. "Then your friend can help him?"

"My friend is an expert at dark curses. If anyone can help Potter, he can...the problem is I don't think he will help."

Dumbledore frowned. "Why not?"

"It's personal, and no I can't say why. Look, all I can do is ask him but I can't give anyone guarantees."

"Julius?"

He turned to Remus with a questioning look.

"Is he the one that helped you with your lycanthropy?"

Julius nodded. "Yes, but like I said...I have to ask him. And there is a large chance that he says no."

TBC

Alia: Oh poor Harry...sobs...I don't think I made that bad enough.


	5. An unwanted announcement

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 5

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: We'll take a shot at the meeting after Julius left then we'll check out Lex and meet the rest of the gang.

With Darkness Comes Anew

After Julius left, Albus turned to the others. "I believe Poppy has allowed all of us to take turns visiting Mr. Potter. He isn't awake but we can sit with him for a short time."

"Albus." Remus stood up. "Should we gather information on Julius's friend? We should know who we are dealing with."

"I do trust Julius, Remus. In this case, however, he has been very closed mouth about his friend. We don't even know his name. See what you can find. Perhaps you should look for anyone working with werewolves. Unfortunately, you are working on little to no information."

Remus nodded. "I can try."

* * *

Lex nodded goodbye to the old woman with the outrageously loud hat, who just left the store, with a smile on his face. He shook his head wearily and slowly made his way to the door as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

When he'd received the deed to the small antique shop, that had once belonged to a beloved friend of his, he'd been surprised but appreciative. Mary had just died and had deeded him her shop to him a year before her death and Emma's birth.

Lex had been devastated by her death and had tried to juggle his silent grief with taking care of the newborn Emma and the twins. When the shop had been given to him, he had kept it opened and worked as the shop owner, needing a break from his children and thoughts of Mary.

After a week or so, he'd calmed but kept the shop going to keep himself occupied. The one thing he never understood was how bloody draining it could be standing behind a counter most of the day. He'd never been this tired when he used to teach.

Putting up the closed sign and locking the door, Lex walked to the back and grabbed his bike helmet. He walked toward the black motorcycle with the silver snake design that sat in the alley behind his shop. It was time to go home. He'd have to consider what Terry said about getting an assistant.

Gunning the bike, he headed toward Brea's small studio. The woman owned a small music studio where she gave singing and dance lessons. She mostly worked with children which was why the kids stayed with her most days. Today they were with Chiara again.

Brea was outside waiting for him and Lex didn't like the appreciative looks that were being aimed at his sister. It was a good thing Terry and Julius weren't here. Brea ran over to him and Lex frowned at the short skirt she wore, even though it was knee length. The woman rolled her eyes. "Please, Lex. Just because I'm the youngest girl. I'm twenty years older than you."

"Yes, yes. I have heard this before." He replied cooly.

Brea sighed but jumped onto the bike with her brother and quickly put on her own helmet. "Let's go see what the boys did to Chiara's place! Ash is there with her today."

"I thought he was still fixing up the damage at the club from last night?" From what he'd heard that morning, there had been one hell of a bar fight.

"Nah. The insurance company wants to check out all of the damage first," she shouted as they took off for home.

Lex just nodded in reply but kept the rest of his attention to the road.

It took about ten minutes for the two of them to make it back to their flats. Brea hopped off before Lex and followed the tall man into the apartment building. Brea glared at the elevator.

"The damn elevator is broken again."

"Lift, Brea."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Same thing."

Lex snorted and both headed up the stairs. /Americans./ "The landlord will have it fixed by tomorrow and you know it."

"So, what? It always seems to inconvenience me the most."

While Brea continued to fuss about the lift (elevator), Lex continued up the stairs with her following him. He unlocked the door to his flat and walked in, Brea trailing behind him. He'd go and get the boys after he'd cooked dinner.

What stopped Lex from going on toward the kitchen was the despondent figure that sat slouched on his couch. Brea dropped her purse on a table and rushed over toward him. "Julius? Caesar, what are you doing here?"

Julius sighed. Lex could tell that he really didn't want to talk about it but was going to. "Julius, what happened?"

The werewolf looked up at him. "Someone was nearly killed at Hogwarts today. 'Death's curse'. The caster is also dead."

Brea's eyes widened and Lex shook his head. The poor bastard was never going to recover. If they wanted to be merciful, they would have to kill him now.

"They're going to kill him?" asked Bria who was now sitting beside her lover on the couch.

Julius shook his head. "No. They think they still have a chance..."

Lex's eyes narrowed at him. "What the bloody hell did you do?"

Julius blinked. "What makes you think that I did anything?"

Brea glowered at him. "Julius..."

Julius cleared his throat. "I kind of told them...that there was a chance you could save him! Even though you would have to go to Hogwarts to do it."

The ground began to shake.

* * *

Terry raced down the hallway quickly and got to the door of Lex's flat right before Ash who was coming from the other direction. "Chiara and the kids?"

"Fine. The spell you put up worked on the whole building...except for Lex's," The red head said with a grimace. Ash was a handsome man with dark red hair and blue gray eyes. His hair reached the middle of his back, making it easy to hide the deep burn scar on the back of his neck.

Terry stood three more inches over the six foot Ash. He had brown hair, dark brown eyes with specks of green and was a good looking black man. His frame was larger next to Ash, who shared Lex's swimmer's build. The dark eyes closed. "That is not good. Damn!" He motioned Ash behind him and the older man took his position. Terry was the oldest of the three male friends.

Bracing himself, Terry opened the door and both men immediately rushed in, closing the door behind them and quickly taking cover. Both men could hear the loud screaming. The entire room was dark and nothing could be seen. It was the horrified screaming within that was very much disturbing. Terry nudged Ash. "Light would be good." Since Chiara had remained with the children it was up to him to bring in enough light for both men to see.

Ash nodded and rose a hand. A short chant came from his lips and in his hand, a small sphere of fire formed.

The room lit dimly. However, as the darkness retreated, the noises became much more pronounced than they had been before. Julius and Brea were definitely heard, thought vaguely, above Brea's wind. Lex could be heard easily over all. The pure rage in the man's howl was enough to send shivers up even Terry's back.

"Intensify the flame! We need more light!" shouted Terry, trying to be heard over Lex's angry screams.

"What in the hell made Lex lose it? Fuck, something must have surprised him." Ash muttered then he shouted back to Terry. "It won't work. Chiara won't leave the children either so you'll just have to wait a little longer." Even as he spoke, the screams were slowly quieting. The howling of Brea's wind slowed and the trembling in the ground was nearly nonexistent. What was most important was that light now entered the room and the darkness receded.

Terry and Ash had ducked behind a fallen table. As both men stood, they took in the scene. Brea was in the center of the room and was wearing the rusty gold of her ceremonial dress, an empire gown with flowing sleeves and dress. Her clothes were in the process of changing back into her T-shirt and skirt. Julius was in the corner of the room with a regretful and somewhat pained look on his face.

As Brea sat on the floor, she rocked slowly back and forth. One of her hands lay upon a back while the other ran through short black locks. Lex was in her arms, softly whispering that he was sorry.

Ash moved toward them slowly as he didn't know what set off his second in command. Julius stood as well but moved quickly to Lex's side. Ash and Terry both flinched at the look in Brea's eyes especially when they glowed the same rusty gold as her dress had been. The air around them picked up suddenly before dying down.

She whispered to Julius. "I don't believe you said that in his presence."

"Brea, Lex, forgive me. I wasn't thinking. I thought that he'd dealt with how he felt about..."

"Hogwarts," Lex whispered so softly that the four others barely heard him.

Terry growled as only his animals could before he sighed.

Ash glared. "Damn it, Julius! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about a man's life damn it! No one deserves to die or even worse live what he will!" Julius sat down defeated. "I was not thinking about Lex's feelings the way I should have but...you didn't see a man lying in the bed with a hole in his chest and not being able to help him."

Ash was still quite furious with Julius but Terry understood. Although he was the oldest of the group, he'd seen the less amount of blood, by his hand or others. He knelt by Julius. "We understand. But you should never forget about Lex first. Had Brea not been here, he could have either killed you or driven you insane."

Julius flinched but nodded.

"Who was it? Who was cursed, Julius?" Lex stood, although a bit unsteadily. His face was set in stone and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Julius looked up into Lex's eyes and only just held back a shiver. "It was Potter. It was Harry Potter."

Lex's eyes widened and shock came over his face before it settled in resignation. "How does that boy manage to get into so much trouble?" muttered Lex. He shook his head. Lex would always have issues with Hogwarts. It was the place most of the worse moments of his life had happened and having to go back struck hard. During his Breaking, he'd had to experience everything all over again and it had been one of the reasons he'd been broken. But...

"How bad off is Potter?"

"He's stable for now. Madam Pomfrey's having to rely on muggle means to keep him alive though. Mrs. Weasley's parents are muggles and are helping her." Julius replied.

Lex nodded though he was actually still off in his own little world. Hogwarts was still home despite everything that had happened in his life. He bore the mark to know that would always be.

Brea broke him out of it. "You're going to go aren't you?"

"I think I owe Potter that. He saved my life. And although I'm not sure who it was, I think he was the one who cleared my name with the Wizarding World using the Daily Prophet."

"So you owe him? No offense Lex, but I don't think you owe them anything!" cried Ash passionately.

Lex shook his head. "Don't. Do not tell me what to do." He grimaced. "Besides, I have been saving Potter's life since he was a child. I won't let all my hard work go to hell." He turned to Julian. "You said Potter is stable. That means he can be saved. The b...man is a powerful wizard. He would have to be in order to have survived the attack at all."

"But doesn't that power put Potter in even more danger?" asked Brea.

"Much more. But it will allow me to help as he falls under my jurisdiction. Potter learned many dark spells while training to defeat Voldemort."

"So you'll do it?" Julius was nervous but hopeful.

"Potter should remain stable for up to three days. I want to spend the next couple of days alone with Emma and the boys." He'd need the chance to relax. "I'll have to stay at Hogwarts for a week or more to help Potter. Ash, go ask Sarah if she can handle the shop for a while. I know she's back from Australia."

"Sure Lex." Ash rushed out the door of the flat, closing it shut behind him.

Lex turned to Terry, who smiled at him. "Don't worry little brother. I'll help Chiara with the kids but you'll need to contact them as much as possible."

"Thanks. Will you go get them while I clear this up?"

"Sure." With that Terry walked out and went toward the end of the hall where Chiara lived.

Brea stood then brushed invisible dirt off of her restored shirt and skirt. "Do you want us to stay with you tonight?"

"I'm fine Brea."

Julius apologized again before using Brea's fireplace to get back to Hogwarts.

Later that night, Chiara and Lex sat side by side on his couch. The children were curled up in their beds asleep and Lex had turned off the television. The room was silent.

"Do you think I should do it, sister? That I should go back."

"You want to help Potter, right?" asked the woman.

"Yes, I do. I feel that I owe him that. But I'll have to face all of them."

She moved until she was straddling his lap. She cupped his face with her hands. "Listen to me, my brother, my dark knight, my other half. You have faced them. All of them during Restoration. You have nothing to be afraid of and you no longer have anything to be ashamed of. You have sought and earned redemption for what you have done in the past. You also have your family and will never lose us. You have another home. Be not afraid. If we must march by your side to Hogwarts so be it. Don't be afraid, Severus."

He looked at her through his dark eyes. "What else is there to say? I don't need them, do I?"

"I don't know. Have you answered that question yet?"

"You're a bitch, Chiara," he chuckled.

"I know, brother."

* * *

It was two days later when a preoccupied Julius walked through the desks of his students trying to keep an eye on his students as they tried a levitating spell on feathers.

He'd done something he'd sworn not to do...at least for a few more years. He'd asked Brea to marry him. Terry had told him a week after he'd found out what Brea was, and after he had accepted it, that he could not ask for her hand. That he had to wait until Mother said he could. He had to meet her first.

Julius didn't understand it. He didn't even know who or what Mother was. Of course he hadn't even thought of marriage at that time. Now...He could control the wolf. He could have children. He could be a normal wizard. Most of all, he could marry Brea. His parents loved her. Her family, which compromised of her lone mom (who lived in America and had met him), five siblings, and Lex's children, all liked him.

Well, everyone but the mysterious Mother who wanted him to wait. He had waited like Brea asked him to, but he just couldn't do it anymore. Not after taking his cure. Not after being free to marry Brea, although the wedding with her would not have been a traditional wizards' wedding. So he'd asked her. And had left with her screaming and cursing at him hysterically. Brea had also began crying after he'd left.

He had a reason for being so bold. He loved her. He'd fallen for her the moment he laid eyes on her. Literally, to be honest. He'd tripped on the floor. But he cared for Brea and damned if some mysterious old woman was going to stop him from being with her.

Julius flinched as a feather burst into flame nearby. He groaned. "Mr. Gram, would you please...Merlin!"

Screams filled the room as the first years jumped from their desks and rushed to the back of the room to get away from the green cloaked figure that was now holding their Charms professor by the throat.

Julius's eyes stared at the hooded figure as he stood there standing in fear. Was this one of the reasons Terry had told him to wait? Was this one of the dangers he should have expected?

"You utter bastard! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Julius's eyes widened. "Terry!" He flinched as all he could see beneath the cloak hood was glowing forest green eyes.

"It's Terran to you, you little fool. I warned you, Julius. How dare you disobey my Mother! You should be killed for that alone. But not only did you disobey her," he growled lowly, shaking Julius like a rag doll, "But you left my sister, my COUNTERPART, bawling on the floor of her flat crying her eyes out!"

Julius was struggling. Terry, or rather Terran at that moment, was pissed. Something you didn't see often from the sweet man. But if Terran was here... "OH NO!" he coughed out around Terran's huge fist. The room had started to warm up.

"Good sum of the situation, little git. Fryer, you are a dead man. How dare you! We told you not to ask her! She can't give you her hand! Only Mother can and you pull this! I haven't seen her in this much pain in years. Have you gone mad!"

Standing to Terran's right in a cloak of bright red and gold was not longer his friend Ash. It was Blaze. Julius could just make out the two glowing flames that made his eyes. The gloved hand that was rising to strike him made the entire room an oven as it suddenly became sweltering hot.

Julius closed his eyes but opened them after a moment when nothing had touched him. Beside the two before him was a form of absolute darkness. Evil didn't emanate from the figure before him but Julius could feel that it was there. Darkness was here.

He held Blaze's red gloved hand in his own gloveless ghostly white. It was far from skeletal but Darkness wasn't exactly Death just as he wasn't exactly Evil. There were so many aspects of Darkness. He was the most complex of them all.

Julius began to breathe faster even with Terran's tight fist around his throat. If Darkness was angry enough at him...heaven help him.

Darkness stood there seeming to hover an inch or two above the floor. His entire aura was black and his black robes flowed unnaturally around his body and head. His face could not be seen. Not even a hint of it. A flash of green and red of their eyes could be seen inside of Terran and Blaze's hoods. Darkeness's eyes were more than likely, totally black.

"Don't." The simple word issued from Darkness sent shivers of fear with touches of comfort down the spines of everyone in the classroom save his brother.

"And why not?" growled Terran. His voice was beginning to take on the touch of a large cat. Preferably a tiger.

"You saw what he did. Zephyr is hysterical!" thundered Blaze. In Blaze's anger, he set fire to the empty desks closest to them. The screams from the stunned students rose for a moment before dropping again as they huddled closer to the back wall.

"Yes I did see what he did." Julius could hear the anger in that, so when the small flash of pain lanced up his spine he was expecting it. "But," said Darkness continuing in his deep velvet voice, "the two of you left before you could hear her. She fears for his life. He disobeyed Mother and she's scared Mother may take her anger out on him."

"As she should!" yelled Blaze. One of the children, who had to be a Gryffindor, rushed for the door and ran for help. The three brothers ignored him.

Darkness sighed. "I saw Mother a moment after you two left." He glanced at Julius. "She'll punish him when she sees fit. It is not our right."

"And what of Zephyr?" asked Terran. His counterpart had been hurt badly by her fear.

"We reassure her and go back to things." He turned to Julius. "I know you love our sister. So we won't punish you as much as you deserve it. You have our permission to continue seeing her."

"Why do I need your permission? Tell me why I need permission!" cried Julius.

Terran pulled the wizard closer so that they were face to face. "Because you don't understand. I don't know if you ever will. Have you looked at her Fryer. Have you seen what she could become? Well, I have. All of us have. You are too young to see the restrained violence that is embedded in each of us. You can't see the insanity, the unmerciful killer in us. And be aware that she is INDEED one of US! Could you possibly accept her Julius? Could you accept the fact that the woman you know has tortured and killed men and women, for both business and pleasure? Can you possibly accept the fact that she'll do it again and that you'll someday have to witness that killer? Can you accept the fact that with loving her not only will you love the beast within her but you'll also someday you may be forced to become one! Can YOU accept THAT?"

"YES!" He said it before even thinking about it.

Darkness and Blaze stepped back as Terran dropped Julius to the floor though not nearly as roughly as he could have. All three men nodded. They believed Julius to be sincere. Julius lay sprawled on the ground coughing for a moment before turning to the three towering figures standing over him.

Darkness turned to his brothers. "The others are coming. We must go."

Terran and Blaze nodded then looked at Julius. "Sorry, Julius, but she is our sister." They disappeared but not as any other wizard would have. Terran seemed to melt into the stone. Blaze appeared to burst into flames.

Darkness chuckled at the stunned expression on the face on both Julius and the shocked children.

"One more thing before the other teachers arrive and I leave." Somehow Julius knew he was smiling beneath that cloak. "Mother gives her permission. In two years time, you can ask her again. Then she can say yes." Julius fainted as Darkness disappeared in a swirl of dark shadows laughing.

Sprout and Hermione Weasley burst through the door, wands ready. "What is going on here?" Demanded Hermione as Sprout rushed over to check on Julius.

A small girl answered, "Three men attacked Professor Fryers."

"They came out of no where and jumped him!"

"One of them stopped the others from hitting him though. They were talking for a long while. It looked that way at least," whispered the shy Hufflepuff.

"What did they say?" Sprout asked as she conjured up a stretcher for Fryer.

One of the older children shook his head. "We couldn't hear a word."

* * *

Julius opened his eyes to find Dumbledore sitting beside him in a chair. "I see you are awake Julius."

The younger man nodded but didn't answer. Albus had a serious expression on his face. "Julius, who were those men who attacked you today?"

"I can't tell you that Albus. Believe me when I tell you that."

"And I would like to my boy, however, when something of this nature happens, I mus-,"

"My friend is arriving tomorrow."

Dumbledore blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Julius sat up from his bed. He put on his robes which were folded on the end of the bed. "My friend will be arriving tomorrow. Saturday morning. He wanted to spend some time with his family before he comes here. He says it will take a week or longer to help Potter but he's willing to try."

Dumbledore lit up and totally forgot the subject from before. Just as Julius wanted.

"Your friend will be here that soon! That is wonderful my boy! Most of the children will be at Hogsmeade and there won't be much of a commotion about a stranger coming in." He patted Julius's shoulder. "I must go alert the Order. Everyone will want to be here tomorrow. You should check with Poppy before you go."

Julius smiled at Dumbledore's exit. The old man was practically bouncing out of the door. As he made his way to Poppy's office the thought of Lex's arrival tomorrow kicked into his head.

Julius smirked.

TBC

Alia: Yeah, I know you have questions...but what do you want me to tell you?


	6. A new yet old acquaintance

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 6

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Surprise! It's Severus!

With Darkness Comes Anew 6

Lex swung Arthur up into the air, and laughed as his son squealed and kicked before he was brought back to the ground by his father. Alexander rushed over and bounced excitedly before his father. "My turn! My turn!"

"NO! One more time daddy, please!" cried Arthur as he threw puppy eyes at his father.

Lex laughed shaking his head. "No, Arthur. It's Xander's turn."

The four year old twin sighed despondently but obediently stepped aside. Xander bounced over to his father as Art moved to stand beside his sleeping baby sister. Emma lay in a car seat beside a bench sleeping blissfully under the shade.

Lex quickly finished swinging Xander but as he became dizzy and began losing his equilibrium, he decided that enough was enough for both of the boys. "Okay. That is enough for now."

"Are you dizzy, Daddy?" asked Arthur.

"Just a little. Come on you two." Both boy scrambled up to sit by their father on the bench. Three women who were walking by smiled at the picture. Lex glanced at them.

"Looks like they like what they see."

He glanced over at the lake a few paces away then back at the three women who had now settled nearby. "What are you talking about Tsunami?" he asked softly. The boys were slowly drifting off to sleep. When the three women disappeared, he would transport them all home.

The water rippled. "What better appeal is there to some than a man playing with his children. One that isn't wearing a wedding ring?"

Lex heard a faint giggle from the trio of ladies and, with a glance, could see that he was the focus of their amusement.

"I think they like you."

"Unfortunately, the feeling is anything but mutual. Now show yourself and help me get rid of them."

Another ripple appeared in the water. "Are you mad little brother? No. I think I'll wait just a bit longer. Heads up!"

Lex looked up from the water to see a young woman slowly approach him. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?" he asked with a small smile even as his stomach cringed.

"Does this belong to one of your boys?" She held up a small ball that was striped with red, blue, and green.

Lex nodded. He tried to raise an arm but a short whine came from Arthur. The woman before him chuckled.

"He's adorable. Both of them are."

Lex smiled with pride. "Thank you."

The woman brushed her brown locks to the side and looked at the car seat with a gentle smile that oddly enough annoyed Lex. Why wouldn't she just drop the ball and leave? He hated it when people got conversational. This didn't include his friends who knew when he wasn't up for talking.

"Is that your little girl?"

Lex glanced at her two friends who were watching them like vultures. "Yes, she is."

"She is very pretty. What's her name?"

Lex just wanted her to go away. Hell she couldn't even come on to him the right way...not that there was a right way.

"Emma. Her mother's middle name."

The woman blinked and for a moment she looked crestfallen. "Oh." She glanced at the non existent wedding ring on his hand.

Lex tried to keep the smile from turning into a smirk. He only just managed it.

The woman coughed and blushed. "Well then." She put the ball down by his feet. "Have a good day. Bye Emma." She said waving at the still sleeping babe.

Lex sighed in relief as she left. A soft laugh could be heard. Lex glanced over. The three muggles were leaving. Sarah sat down beside him, her blonde hair flowing softly behind her.

"You could have come a little earlier."

"Really, Lex. What type of fun would that have been?" She brushed some hair from his face.

He snorted. "You really enjoyed living up to the job of big sister. Annoying your siblings is a sick pleasure for you?"

"I rarely do such a thing and no one in their right mind would have let that scene go by. You should have held her longer. And besides, Chiara is the oldest." Sarah leaned back against the bench, her eyes gazing about the park sleepily.

"That is totally unimportant information." He snapped at her.

Sarah smiled back serenely. "I know." Her face turned serious. "I won't stay long. I just wanted to drop by and see you. Will you be alright today?"

Lex chuckled slightly. He lifted his head and watched some clouds float by lazily. He hugged the boys to him. "No. I don't think I will be. It will be so hard facing them again. I haven't really been near the Wizarding World for five years."

Sarah coughed. Lex groaned, "Alright so technically it's over two hundred years but you damn well know what I mean."

She giggled. "I know Lex." She glanced at him. "Do you need one of us to go along? Brea has yet to scream at Caesar."

"I need to do this myself. I don't think I really faced my past during Restoration. Not the most recent anyway."

"You're hurt Lex. They betrayed you. The people you believed you could trust betrayed you just like so many have in your life."

"I understand why. If anyone ever laid a hand on Emma and the twins," he hugged his boys closer and looked at his little girl. "But...it's so hard to forgive."

"Who in the world said you had to forgive? You can't always just forgive Lex despite what many would say. Its just not in some of us to forgive. Do you think I ever forgave my husband for what he did?"

Lex shook his head. Sarah's husband now burned in hell as far as Lex was concerned. He'd murdered their child in cold blood. Right in front of Sarah's eyes.

"No. And I never will. Lex...Severus..." She sighed. "Do you want to forgive them so badly? Do you need to let them go or do you still need them?"

"I have my family and friends. The ones that mean the most."

"Damn you, Lex. Answer the question!" she snarled. Her eyes crystal blue flashed a brilliant dark blue for a moment, her hair, so black that it hinted blue in the sunlight, seemed to flow in the absent wind.

Looking behind his sister, Lex could see a large disturbance in the water. He felt a hard pressure in his chest. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. Just that I have to go back. I must help Potter."

Sarah opened her mouth to speak but soon quieted. She picked up Emma's car seat. She rubbed her pale cheek against the baby's hair. "Come on. Let's take the kids back. You need to get to Terry's soon."

* * *

Lex entered the garage to the sound of the usual loud music in the back. Cars were every where and the car parts were scattered all over. He shook his head. Terry's garage was a good business, but there was no organization at all. All the mechanics did was litter tools and parts, but if asked...all of them had a system.

Growing a headache at the loud music and the noise of the mechanics fixing cars, Lex quickly hurried to the back of the shop waving hello to a few of the mechanics who'd seen him and knew him pretty well.

Looking through the glass door, he saw Terry hunched over some papers on his desk. He knocked gently on the glass but hard enough for Terry to hear it over the noise.

Annoyed brown eyes glared up at him before doing a 180. Terry smiled at Lex and motioned him inside. "Lex! I didn't expect you so early."

Lex entered and dropped in the chair in front of Terry's desk. The man sighed with exhaustion. "Actually, Terry, I'm late. I should have been gone two hours ago but the boys..."

Terry nodded sympathetically. The boys loved their father dearly. "Just make sure to contact them as much as possible Lex. We'll take good care of them."

Lex nodded his head. "I know," he said with complete certainty. "Is she ready?"

Terry chuckled and stood. "Purring like a kitten. You'll certainly make an impression." He opened the door and exited.

Lex froze in the doorway. "I'm not trying to impress anyone." At least he hoped not. He was dressed no differently than he had dressed for years. He stood there in white long sleeve over a black T-shirt with black jeans, black boots with his black bike helmet in hand. So what if he could have apparated to Hogwarts gates. He rarely apparated any more. The same went for his siblings.

Terry turned with a frown on his face. "I didn't mean it that way Lex and you know it. Don't sound so defensive."

"I'm not-,"

"You are." Terry's voice was commanding. His face softened. "I know that you aren't trying to impress anyone so calm down. We all know that you're nervous about this. It isn't easy to face your past."

Lex flinched. No it wasn't easy. "Sorry. You're right. What I need to do is to concentrate on helping Potter."

Terry looked at him for a long moment. "Do you want me to come?"

Lex glowered at his brother. The black man laughed at him. Lex growled. "Will you bunch quit treating me like a three year old?"

"Well you are the youngest, little brother. Mother asked us to keep an eye out for you."

Lex bit his lip. He'd almost stomped his foot at that comment and that was frightening. He needed to get the hell out of here. "Where the hell is my bike?"

Terry pointed to the corner smirking. He tossed his little brother his keys. "Take care little brother."

"Goodbye you fucking bastard!"

Laughter followed him out of the garage.

* * *

Lilith sighed as she and her friends sat inside the Three Broomsticks. Things were so boring this year. Everything was so dull for the young Gryffindor sixth year. The students tried to use the Hogsmeade weekends as something to stop the utter boredom but it wasn't much. The pranks had picked up for a short while between all of the students. It didn't matter what house you were in but the pranksters soon got bored with the continuous detentions with Filch and let everything go.

She sighed again this time catching her friend Jenna's attention. "Aw come on Lilith. Things aren't that bad."

Lilith and their two other girlfriends stared at her for a long minute. Jenna frowned. "Okay so things are that bad. There is that thing with Meredith Price though!"

"No one cares that she's working her way through the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. I certainly don't."

"Could be interesting when the Captain's girlfriend finds out though," said Clare.

Lilith rolled her eyes and let them rest in one spot in particular. The girl gave a low whistle. "Be still my heart."

Clara, Beth, and Jenna directed their attention in the same direction as Lilith's. Some man had just flooed into the Three Broomsticks and was in the process of brushing the obscene amount of ash from his white over-shirt.

Lilith leaned back to get a good look at the stranger. The man had finished brushing off his shirt and was in the process of brushing the soot from his jeans. It was impossible to see his face. He was wearing some kind of helmet. "He's in muggle clothing. I wonder why."

Beth, usually the quiet one, said, "Perhaps it's none of our business."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Of course, it's our business. Besides, look at that body." All four girls admitted that the man certainly had a good looking body. The muggle clothing only emphasized the man's figure

Clara started coughing to cover her laughter. She could have sworn the man glanced their way for a moment even though none of them could see his face.

The man headed toward the door and just before he exited he removed a small motorcycle from his pocket. The girls all jumped up to follow him when they heard their teachers call. It was time to go back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Lex chuckled as he stood outside the Three Broomsticks looking around as they people of Hogsmeade rushed around busily. It had been a long time since he'd seen Hogsmeade. He groaned at the fact that he felt sentimental. He was getting old. He was just 244 years old. (AN: The age is not a typo)

He watched the girls that had been gazing at him inside scurry toward the student carriages. It was apparently time for them all to head back to Hogwarts. Lex chuckled again. The girls would be shocked if they knew just who they were talking about.

Lex took a deep breath when he noticed Vector and Sinistra gathering the stranglers. He closed his eyes momentarily behind his helmet. He didn't want to have to deal with this. He needed to heal Potter and go. Apparently, the less contact he had with his past, the better. It may seem as if he was being a coward, but it had much more to do with wanting to live without any real problems.

He leaned against the wall of the Three Broomsticks and watched the students and teachers leave in their carriages. Lex slipped into an alley and enlarged his motorcycle. Julius said that they would meet him at the front steps of Hogwarts and Lex was already over an hour late. He started the bike up and next thing anyone knew he was off. Unfortunately he only managed to scare the local residents and shop owners rather than running one of them over.

Lex enjoyed the wind as it flew against and around him while he rode on his bike. He loved this mode of transportation more than apparating, floo, or cars. The only car he used was Mary's old one and that was when he needed to drive the children around.

He quickly caught up with the Hogwarts group. Students had heard the sound of his motorcycle and were practically hanging out of the window of the carriages, pointing and gawking at the man on the motorcycle. Vector and Sinistra also looked quite surprised.

Lex laughed and sped ahead, leaving nothing but dust and wild rumors behind. After a minute he could see the gates of Hogwarts up ahead.

* * *

Julius tapped his foot impatiently as he and the members of the Order stood on the steps of Hogwarts waiting to meet Julius's friend. Albus frowned. "When did your friend say he would arrive Julius?"

"An hour ago Headmaster. He's usually on time for everything. I hope nothing came up."

Sirius was pacing back and forth and this was causing everyone else to become agitated. "He didn't go back on his promise did he?"

Julius snorted. "Lex would never do anything like that."

Dumbledore blinked. "Can you give us any information about your friend Julius? Anything at all." Remus had not been able to find anything because the wizard had absolutely nothing to work with.

Julius nodded. "His name is Alexander Evanson. He's an expert at Dark Arts. That's all I can tell you right now."

"How do we know he's creditable Julius. We trust you but..." Remus trailed off as a noise that sounded like a motorcycle was heard. Everyone looked to see a figure that had a trail of dust behind him.

Julius smiled. "Finally! I wonder what took him so long. Don't worry Remus. Once you meet him, you'll see that he's creditable." Julius broke from the group and moved forward. Lex was almost there.

Lex braced himself as he slowly came to a stop about ten feet away from Julius and the Order of the Phoenix. He sat for a second before putting down the brake on his bike. He stood as Julius rushed over to greet him. Julius hugged him and Lex returned it though not as he should have. He was too tense to be actually happy to see Julius.

"Thank you." The werewolf had a truly grateful look on his face.

Lex shrugged. "As long as Brea is happy, the rest of us won't kill you."

Julius blanched for a moment until Lex laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "We're your friends Julius. Calm down."

The Charms professor sighed. "Lex what am I going to do with you." Julius glanced at the people gathering in front of Hogwarts then back at the tense man before him. "Are you going to be alright?"

Lex nodded. "I'll have to be now won't I. They won't let me near Potter if they don't know who I am. I can guarantee that." After quickly shrinking his bike, he started toward Hogwarts without another word.

Julius ran to keep up. "They don't know who you are," he whispered quickly.

Lex smirked.

* * *

Albus took a step forward. Moody and Arthur stood on his right leaving Sirius and Remus his left. The other members of the Order stood behind watching the exchange curiously. Everyone wanted to meet the man who could possibly save Harry Potter.

Albus smiled brightly even though he could feel something...uncomfortable from the man before him. He merely shook the thought away figuring that the man was just nervous. He tried to get a glimpse of the man. It was nearly impossible to see his face through the helmet he wore.

Julius smiled. "Everyone, this is Alexander Evanson. He's here to see what he can do for Mr. Potter."

Albus smiled. "I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Evanson."

The man was silent before he dropped his head to remove his helmet. He shook his head, short black locks were thrown about for a moment before he lifted his head as a hand ran though his hair.

Albus felt his heart jump. Something that was certainly not good at his age. But what emotion caused it he was unsure.

"Unfortunately, Headmaster, I cannot say that I am all that pleased." Severus replied while raising an eyebrow.

He should be uncomfortable. If anything, he should be just a bit uncomfortable instead of wanting to laugh in their faces. Their priceless faces. He did nothing of the sort however. Just looked at all of them with a face carved from stone.

A resounding gasp had sounded at the revealing of his face. Sirius Black and Lupin stared, in either shock or horror. McGonagal had a hand over her mouth in shock. Granger's eyes looked as if they'd fall out of her skull. Many were shaking their heads and looking at him again just to make sure their eyes weren't playing tricks on them. Molly Weasley even looked faint for a moment.

Dumbledore took half a step forward. "Severus..."

TBC

Alia: My my...what will happen now.

REVIEW


	7. Meet Lex or Severus

I'm doing this because I'll be busy for a while on Raven's sequel and college and trying to find an idea for this story. Also...I'm bored and don't want to do my homework.

Woah! Thanks for the reviews!

**Melissa Jooty**: You know its great when someone does some analyzing on your story. It makes a lot of authors all fuzzy inside. Or at least me. Thank you. When I was reading a few of the 'Harry is betrayed by the Order', I didn't really think much on Sev until I noticed that some of the time, he ended up saving Harry. I thought that it was actually more likely for something like that to happen to Severus. The betrayed Death Eaters would want revenge plus most of the Order still doesn't trust him despite all that he's done. Thanks for the comments on how well my characterization is. Most times I don't even pay attention to it...except when Severus is insulting someone, and it's difficult coming up with something appropriate. I'm not as eloquent as him. Though Harry is a little pain in the ass in the book at times, I think that since he's older in this story, he's more mature and knows that Severus would do many things but only if he absolutely had to. I hadn't meant to concentrate on Julius like I did. He was meant to just be an extra character. Brea's boyfriend, but he's trying to be more. I don't know if he'll still have as strong a focus as before in the long run. I really don't know how I'll do the reconciliation but I'm working with the Remus idea. Thanks for that. And please recommend this.

**lavondyss21**: You were one of the first that replied to both of my stories. (hugs) Thank you sooooo much. It wasn't going to go the way it is now but I had a weird dream and it ended up like this. The arrival...I do my best.

**TEC**: You've got it so far. Keep working with it.

**mux**: But it's fun being evil and doing cliffhangers! You get more reviews that way.

**Flora**: I plan on explaining everything. It will just take a while.

**Tazthedevilman**: Yup. I figured everyone was going to figure out who Lex was quickly anyway. I had a different part 2 in mind but tossed it. Unfortunately I was still in the frame of mind on that part when I continued the story. I've just gotten to say Lex's whole name. Read again, more carefully, and you'll find who the kids' mother is and if you can't get it I plan to explain it later anyway. I'll go ahead and tell you that the kids are legally his. Don't worry. I hate Sirius with an unbridled passion. I hate bullies. I was bullied in school. Well at least until the profanity and fighting started...but ignore that. Now Audrey...(sighs) You were doing so well until you hit chpt 5. How you came up with Vampires confused me a bit until I remembered that I based the relationship between Severus and the others on that somewhat. I'll explain the Awakening later. Go back to 5 and concentrate on what Brea and Ash did, also concentrate on what Ash said to Terry about the building. Then look at what the boys were wearing when they burst into Julius's class as well as what they called each other. Check out what Sarah did in 6 too. I'll explain the hook up later. And thanks for the beta comment. It's encouraging.

**Emerald**: Thank you.

**Mactunes**: I like torturing Severus more but I needed a reason to bring him back to Hogwarts. He wouldn't go voluntarily.

Now that that's done on with the story.

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 7

EMAIL: PG-13 (and it's uphill from there)

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (Give it a while)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to Rowlings and friends.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'll be switching between either Lex or Severus as the mood takes me.

With Darkness Comes Anew 7

The man that stood before them merely raised an eyebrow.

Sirius shook his head. "N-NO!" He glared at Julius who was watching the entire thing with an amused air then back at the calm man. "You can't be-,"

"Severus Snape? I see, Black, that you haven't changed a bit. You still see things your way." Severus said with a cool demeanor. He watched as the others finally snapped out of whatever zone they were in.

Moody glowered at him causing Severus to chuckle. "You can't be Snape. Snape is over 40 by now."

Severus nodded. "And I am over forty years old Moody. It may not seem that way but I can guarantee you that I am." Julius chuckled at that. Lex, or rather Severus, would always be a Slytherin. There were few people he knew that could tell the truth but still lie at the same time.

"You can't be Snape. You have blue eyes," chimed in Remus.

Lex snorted. "Glamour, Lupin, and I can guarantee that there are plenty of potions to change eye color as well."

Albus just watched the man. His movements, his mannerisms. The same smooth baritone that had always been there. This man was Severus but at the same time different. But much could change in five years.

Dumbledore moved closer to the stranger who took a step back. Albus felt his throat constrict. "It is you, isn't it, Severus?"

The man narrowed dark blue eyes before giving a short nod to the Headmaster, his hair moving gracefully with the movement.

The old wizard smiled brightly, eyes twinkling madly. He took a step closer, arms wide to embrace his missing friend, when a hand was raised.

Severus frowned at Dumbledore. He spoke harshly. "I didn't come back for you Dumbledore. I didn't come back for any of you."

Julius decided to cut in. Personally, he would love to see how this went, but they needed to check on Potter first. Then he would let them have their discussion. He would need his total attention then. Brea wanted to hear about it later. "Lex, we really need to check on Potter."

Turning his attention to his friend, he nodded. "He's in the infirmary." It was a statement not a question.

'"Madam Pomfrey has him. He's being sedated right now so that he doesn't have to deal with the pain."

Lex grimaced but indeed nodded. "Take me to him. I need to see how bad he really is."

"Do you think that Voldemort was the one to send him the potion?"

Severus's eyes watched as a few members of the Order still flinched. He shook his head ever so slightly. Merlin, they still hadn't stopped that. Of course Severus wasn't being exactly fair. After leaving the wizarding world, it was a year later before he heard Voldemort's name again. He'd winced but only for a second. "I don't doubt that it was but I'll need to check out Potter's magical signature to be totally sure. Afterward, we can see what can be done."

"Severus?" The name was voiced softly by Molly Weasley.

Lex turned and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Can you help Harry?" She decided not to say 'will'. He wouldn't have come if he wasn't going to help.

"Mrs. Weasley, the reason I am here is to help Potter if only a little." He turned to Julius. "Let's go Caesar."

* * *

Hermione joined the rest of the Order of the Phoenix as they followed the two friends to the infirmary. Everyone except for Severus and Julius were silent. No one knew what to say. 

Taking a quick glance at Dumbledore, she could see that the old wizard was contemplating the situation just as deeply as everyone else. No one, not even her, knew what to think or what to say. The only thing that was foremost in everyone's mind was: Severus Snape is back.

She shook her head. The silence among the Order was deafening. She unconsciously tuned in to the conversation between Snape and Fryer.

"So the fact that it's a potion could cause any number of problems? And so soon? Even I thought we had a bit more time." asked Julius.

Severus nodded in reply. "We won't know until I can get a good look at him. Lets just hope we aren't too late. Voldemort was a powerful wizard."

Julius continued the conversation. "By the way why were you so late? I didn't expect that."

From Hermione's point of view, Snape seemed to tense for a moment before shrugging his right shoulder. "It was a bit harder leaving home than I thought," he responded evasively.

Julius paused before saying softly, though it was still heard, "The boys didn't make it easy did they?"

Lex sighed. "They woke up right before I was about to leave. Then Emma started crying and-," he cut himself off.

Julius chuckled. "You can't blame them Lex. You've never been apart from any of them for more than a day. Are you going to call them over the floo tonight?"

"Of course."

Hermione watched as Dumbledore's attention had been caught by the conversation. If he came to the same conclusion as her, then Snape had changed a lot more than just physical appearance. The man apparently had a wife and children.

She took a good look at Snape as the man continued down the hallway beside Julius. She remember the foreboding aura that always surrounded Snape. The man could intimidate easily and had a frightening demeanor. But now as she looked at him, it was all changed. To be honest, Snape was quite handsome now.

Gone were the greasy locks of hair. It looked softer now but still gleaned however you could see that it was because the black hair was so fine. His skin was no longer ghostly pale or sallow. It seemed to have a healthy glow though he was still a bit pale. What surprised her a little was that his nose was straightened from whatever break he'd once had. That hadn't been expected at all.

There was also something about the way he moved that was a lot different from the way it used to be. Severus Snape used to stalk the halls of Hogwarts no matter what mood he was in. He always moved swiftly and gracefully, and he moved that way now except...except now Severus's movements seemed sensual, sexual, as if you being seduced by his mere movement.

Hermione shook her head at her thoughts. She was married for Merlin's sake. She didn't need to be thinking of how good looking her former Potions Professor was. Even though one thought stuck in her mind. /Did Snape always have that body? Oh Merlin./ Hermione blushed.

* * *

Finally, the group had made the short trip to the infirmary. Many of the Order members had left knowing that Madam Pomfrey would not allow all of them into her domain. The only people remaining with Julius and Severus were Dumbledore, McGonagal, Mr & Mrs Weasley, Granger, Lupin and Black. 

Julius walked through first calling out Madam Pomfrey. The mediwitch bustled out of her office and immediately started on Julius. "Julius, what in the world is taking you and your friend so long. He should have been here- an - hour- ago..."

Severus watched as Poppy recognized who he was. "Severus?"

He nodded once then quickly asked, "Where is Potter?" He didn't want anyone to try and touch him again.

"Mr. Potter?" She glanced at Julius.

"Severus is the friend that I was talking about Poppy," Julius answered her question while saying Severus's name for the first time.

"Oh." She let go of a rush of air. Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat. "This way." She turned but kept trying to sneak looks of Severus as she continued to one of the private rooms.

Severus frowned the moment he laid his eyes on the two beds and their occupants. "Has Weasley been conscious at all during his time here?" he asked. Walking smoothly toward the beds, he immediately started to get to work. Striping out of the white shirt that lay over his black one and tossing it to a nearby chair, Severus grabbed a small bag from his pocket that enlarged instantly.

"He's been in and out but he continues to lose consciousness because of the pain even with the pain relievers he's been given." Pomfrey watched as Severus took a small amulet from his satchel.

Julius tilted his head slightly. "What have you got, Lex?" He ignored Poppy's raised eyebrows.

"A gift from a friend. I'll use this to scan Potter's magical signature." It was a large diamond inside of a emerald metal. There were intricate designs and symbols along the back.

"Why is the metal green?" Julius asked. He only got a smirk in return and immediately knew his answer. "Ahhh! I see." He laughed at Lex, then harder when he saw the look on the face of the other witches and wizards in the room.

Lex sat the amulet on the small table beside Potter's bed. Turning he narrowed his eyes at Weasley then turned to Julius. "When you bound them, you asked Weasley's permission didn't you?"

Julius nodded. "I couldn't use anything else."

Severus stared at Potter for a long moment. Dumbledore spoke. "What do you plan to do, Severus?" He could see Severus was very deep in thought.

Glancing at Dumbledore, he said, "We need him healed before we can really do anything. If he's still injured and the scan finds something, he'll react to it badly."

"How are you so sure about how he'll react?" asked Sirius. He was having a hard time watching his godson like this. The boy was beyond even ghostly white. It was as if there was no color in his face whatsoever. He entire chest was wrapped in bandages and blood was seeping out just ever so lightly. He was barely breathing and Sirius had to stop himself from rushing over to and checking his pulse. It was also very difficult for him to sit by and say nothing while Snape, the man they convicted to life in Azkaban, tried to help Harry. Sirius wasn't all that sure that Snape wouldn't try and kill Harry out of spite.

Severus didn't answer or else he would have given a scathing remark. He'd just managed to hold it back. During Restoration he'd been forced to get over whatever had happened with Black during school. His only dislike of the man came from the last five years. That and Black was still a foolish idiot. Sometimes it was just best to ignore him.

"Madam Pomfrey, gather whatever you'll need to heal Mr. Potter's wounds."

"But, Severus-," She thought she couldn't give him any healing potions.

He glared at her cutting her off. "Just do it. You'll understand in a moment. Julius, go to Weasley. You too Ms. Granger. I dare say your friend will need you." Eyes wide, the girl rushed over to Ron.

"What do you intend to do, Severus? You cannot scan him if he's not healed." Dumbledore watched dark blue eyes turn and look at him. Almost through him. Albus chuckled mentally. Whether they were dark blue or onyx, Severus's eyes were no less intense. In fact they seemed to have grown more so.

"You'll see. Are you ready Poppy?" The mediwitch nodded yes in response to Severus's question. "Good. Stand over there." He turned to the others in the room. "Only dark curses can be used on Potter at the moment but he still needs to be healed."

That was the only explanation Severus gave before he turned and walked between the two beds. Hermione was also in between the beds but sat besides Ron's head. Poppy and Julius stood ready on the other side of Ron's bed. "Poppy, do nothing until I tell you so. Do you understand?" The nurse was obviously confused but she nodded in agreement. Severus lay both hands over Potter's bandages and slowly began to chant.

Minerva gasped. The dark magic in the room was beginning to stifle them. She watched in shock and awe as Severus's hands began to glow a deep red. The wizard before her slowly began to raise his hands away from Harry's chest and moving slowly, eventually placed them both in the exact same position on Ron's.

The chanting began to slow then stopped completely. Severus, however, was suddenly in action. He ripped opened Weasley's shirt and ignoring the cries of dismay and horror, snapped at Pomfrey, "Heal him quickly."

Molly had fainted after seeing what Snape had done to her baby. Arthur had moved his wife to a chair before turning to Snape who was watching them heal Ron. "What have you done?" he shouted angrily.

"The only thing possible. Your son is able to be healed with white magic. Potter isn't." Severus spun on his heel and moved to the other side of Potter's bed. He lifted the boy's face and sighed when he checked Harry's pulse. "McGonagal, grab a vial of Pepper up."

No sooner was Minerva out of the door, Severus had turned to Black. Merely raising a hand and not even speaking a word, a small brown ball formed in Severus's hand. Sirius fell to his knees suddenly exhausted though there was no cause. Severus turned and pushed the brown ball slowly into Potter's chest.

Remus, who was kneeling beside Sirius, gasped as he watched Harry take a deep breath. The young man moaned softly before turning his head to the side. Green eyes opened weakly and looked at the person who stood before him. "Sev'rus," he whispered weakly and confused before falling to sleep.

Minerva came rushing in with the Pepper Up. "Give it to Black. He needs it." She nodded and obeyed Severus's command though she didn't understand what was going on.

Dumbledore had watched all of this in stunned silence. Everything had gone well in less than ten minutes since Severus had entered the infirmary. Harry was well, though still recovering and obviously exhausted, and young Ronald was also healing. Poppy and Julius had nearly finished with him. Sirius was standing back up though with a little help from Minerva and Remus. But the person that had caught Albus's attention was the young wizard that was again digging through his satchel. He didn't know if anyone really wondered, but Albus remembered that Severus's wand had been broken and burned immediately after his sentencing.

Although he was getting old, his eyes were not deceiving him. This entire time, Severus was performing very difficult magic without any wand. How had the potions master accomplished such a thing? Neither Albus or Harry were able to perform it so easily but here Severus, who had been gone from their world for over five years, could do it effortlessly. The older man was determined to find out.

Severus checked Harry's temperature then his pulse. He nodded his head in approval. He would start the scan the next time Potter woke up. This wasn't really magic. To be honest, it was more of a security measure he'd borrowed from a friend. Severus looked up as Julius came toward him. "Weasley's fine now. He's just sleeping."

"Good. Potter is recovering but is doing so slowly. I'll begin the scan the next time he wakes up which should be tomorrow."

Sirius stormed toward him and raised a hand to strike Severus. Ignoring the calls of the others, he swung. He didn't expect to have his wrist caught, especially with such surprising strength.

Severus held on to Sirius's wrist tightly in his left hand. When the man began to tug away, Severus continued to hang on, barely moving. Raising an eyebrow elegantly, Severus asked mockingly, "Why so violent Black?" He chuckled darkly. "I see some things never change." He released the animagus's wrist with a slight shove, causing Sirius to stumble back slightly.

"Sirius!" The disappointment and disapproval in Dumbledore's voice caused Sirius to flinch.

Black glared at Snape. "What did you do to us?"

Severus rolled his eyes. He glanced over at Ron Weasley who was being seen to by Hermione, Molly, and Arthur. "I've done nothing Black."

"Yes you did you bastard-,"

"Lupin, have you ever considered anger management for him?"

"What did you do to me and Ron! What did you do to Harry, you son of a bitch!"

Severus's eyes held an amused look. Albus was impressed. Usually, the younger wizard would be just as furious as Sirius at the accusations but he seemed to let them slide off him and with great amusement as well. "Well, Black I believe that I just healed your godson."

Arthur frowned as he stood near his son. "Did you have to do it that way?"

Severus snorted. "Did you not hear what Julius told you? I thought they heard it all Caesar."

"They did," replied the cured werewolf in a flat voice.

"Apparently not." Severus frowned at Arthur. "Potter can't have ordinary spells used on his person. He can only use dark curses. I'd have killed him had I used anything else. The spells I used had a line to cross. If I'd have asked either you or Weasley for permission then I would have killed him. It had to be taken without any permission or knowledge of what was about to happen. It was done for the best, Weasley. There was no other option."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead for a minute. "He needs rest. After at least five hours, I need you to wake him up Pomfrey. Feed him. Try and get as much food in him as possible. He may complain about his chest being a bit sore but don't give him anything. No potions and no salves. Then try to coax him back to sleep naturally. I don't want to try scanning his magical signature with him as weak as he is. He won't even be moving but it will take quite a bit of energy out of him."

Severus continued speaking to Pomfrey though he knew everyone else was listening intently. "Take blood samples from him as well. I'll need to see what is happening with that potion. Grab a few skin samples as well. I can wait until later for anything else I may need."

Severus turned sharply to look at the Headmaster. "Will your Potions Master mind if I borrow her laboratory or shall I use another place. I remember there being another laboratory a few halls down from the classroom."

Albus smiled but flinched inwardly as Severus scowled at him. In the past that would have had the old wizard's eyes twinkling madly which would just annoy Severus even more. Now however, Albus could see that things would not be the same. He answered Severus.

"Do not worry my boy," Severus's scowl turned into a glare for a moment. "I'm sure Professor Transt would be more than pleased to allow you into the lab." He didn't think it would do well for him to say 'her' labs. They had once been Severus's after all and Albus was reluctant to bring up what had happened between them just yet.

Severus nodded. "I should go speak with her now."

Julius stepped forward. "I'll go with you Lex." He didn't want to leave his friend alone just yet. And maybe the two could use a hallway that didn't see very much traffic. The students had already seen the mysterious figure on the motorcycle. No reason to give them the chance to start more rumors.

"If his condition changes negatively in any way, Madam Pomfrey, I want you to contact me immediately."

She nodded. "Of course."

"Let's go, Julius."

"Severus?"

Both wizards turned to look at the Headmaster. "I would like to speak with you later? If you do not mind?"

Julius took a deep breath. 'UH OH!'

Severus, or rather Lex at this point, raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, it's a command. It doesn't matter whether or not I mind."

"My boy, I did not mean-,"

"I am not a boy Headmaster." He seemed to straighten himself even more. "I will arrive at your office after dinner tonight. Let's go Caesar." He turned cooly on his heel and walked away.

TBC

Alia: jumped back Oooh! Better not touch Sev or you might get burned! (laughs evilly) Review, my children! REVIEW! (sighs) I make an awful evil maniac. Well practice makes perfect. If you have an ideas, please contribute.


	8. A problem and a walk

This may be a bit less than usual but the next part will be more exciting sorry.

**athenakitty: **I don't know if he is but why not? I already said it go back to chpt 4 I think. Severus was practically cleared in the Daily Prophet. I didn't mention the ministry because Arthur knows and he's the M.O.M.

**mactunes: **You liked what I did with Sirius. As a club member of SiriusHatersAnonymous, I must tell you that you ain't see nothing yet.

**Tazthedevilman:**Don't worry. I'll get to the explanation sooner or later. Yes Mary is the kids' mother and no it doesn't say married but no they didn't shack up. You'll find out in the next part. I'm getting to the good part next though. (sighs) it's going to be hard for me though.

**Melissa Jooty:** Yeah. Harry is better now but still stuck with the curse. Good analysis of Dumbledore and you're right. It's not that he's not harsh with them...he's just more cool in his demeanor. Sexy Sev. Oh more people will notice. Don't worry. Hmm..I'll have to think about that. Sorry this took a while. The next part shouldn't take as long...I hope.

**Duj:** You're telling me! I was pissed for days after reading the thing with the original shack. That's what finally endeared Sev to me.

**Linda:** (sobs and hugs Linda) I'm so proud of you. You pretty much got it. Now all you need to do is add on. Don't worry. You'll see. (grins) As for Chiara think of this: She and Severus are Ying and Yang. And Lilith...it slipped into my head but I didn't pay attention till I was editing.

**merlin, Grace, Shinigami:** Thanks for reviewing! I'll try to update a bit faster okay?

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 8

EMAIL:

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (You're free to guess)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP. It belongs to JKR. curses

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: You know it would be helpful if I had an actual idea for this story. Some have come over my head but what can I say. Well here goes nothing boys and girls. I was listening to Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand when I wrote this. Fair warning. (giggles)

With Darkness Comes Anew

The rest of the Order members were waiting for Albus, Remus, Sirius, Arthur, and Molly in the Headmaster's office waiting to hear Snape's prognosis on Harry's curse.

Albus entered first, quickly followed by the others. Hermione had decided to stay with Madam Pomfrey and Ron in the infirmary. The others followed him at a more subdued pace. Remus, Sirius and the Weasleys were still in a bit of shock.

Tonks jumped from her seat. "So what happened? Is Harry alright?"

Fred and George frowned at the looks on the faces of their parents. Fred moved toward his mother from his place by the fireplace. "Mum? Is everything okay?"

George paled suddenly. "Mum, I swear I didn't do it! Fred put that dungbomb in Poppy's office!"

Fred turned and shrieked at his brother. "WHAT! Don't listen to a word he says. He's been slightly delusional ever since that last incident with the Gray Bong-,"

"Fred, George." The exhausted voice came from Albus Dumbledore and caused both boys to quiet almost immediately. "If you boys will please sit down we can update everyone on the situation with Harry."

Everyone immediately took a seat, though uncomfortably. The atmosphere that the newcomers radiated was extremely tense.

Shaklebolt cleared his throat. "Well, Albus, how is Harry? Did Snape check him out?"

A small smile arose on the Headmaster's face. "Indeed he did. Although Harry is still under the influence of the curse, he is now physically healed."

Smiles and noises of both excitement and approval went through the room. Albus continued, "He is, however, exhausted and from what Severus has told us, he will be in and out of consciousness for a while. He is expected to get better though."

Moody continued to stare at the newcomers while the others gave sounds of relief. "What does...Snape," he spat, still not quite believing that the man was the former Potions Master, "have to say about the curse the boy's under."

"Nothing just yet. He has reiterated what Julius has already told us. That Harry is unable to use anything but Dark magic. He is going to do a scan of Harry's magical signature to see what is going on. He'll do it tomorrow."

Bill, who'd come to visit both Harry and his brother, asked, "How did Snape do it? How did he heal Harry?"

Albus demeanor darkened slightly. "Yes. That is something we must talk about."

Arthur blinked when he realized why Albus spoke in the way that he did. "He was using dark magic?"

Molly shook her head. "But he had to, remember? Severus couldn't use anything but dark spells."

Remus frowned. "Molly, the only time Snape actually used a spell was when he was transferring injuries."

That statement got a round of questions from those that were not allowed into the infirmary. It took a moment for everyone to calm down. Albus slowly explained what Severus had done with Harry, Ron, and even Sirius in the infirmary. People nodded but weren't exactly relaxed anymore.

"What I meant earlier Arthur, was that...Severus performed the magic almost effortlessly."

"He was a Death Eater, Albus!" cried Sirius. "Snape's always been deep in that sort of magic."

Dumbledore frowned at him saying, "And what makes you so sure of that Sirius?"

"Because he's always been a terrible person! For Merlin's sake the man is a..." He trailed off as he realized that he was no longer able to say that.

"He is no more a killer than you Siri." Whispered Remus.

Before a rant on all of Snape's evils began again, Albus silenced Black. "This is not the time to discuss that. Now be silent and listen."

Rubbing his forehead and beginning to actually feel his age, Albus continued. "Severus performed that magic almost effortlessly. Without words except for the one chant. But did any of you noticed that he did so without the use of a wand?"

* * *

Severus threw open the infirmary door and began storming down the hall leaving Julius stumbling to catch up with him. 

"Lex, slow down a minute, will you?"

Severus came to an abrupt stop and turned on his heel just as fast. Julius moved toward the other man with trepidation.

Seeing the look on the werewolf's face caused Severus's own to soften. He sighed heavily. "I apologize, Caesar. I don't know what got into me."

"From what you've told me of your former personality, I'd say the old Hogwarts' Spirit has." He place a hand on Lex's shoulder. "I'm sorry I got you into this Lex."

"Do not think on it too much, my friend. I just need to calm down. And to keep my temper. Dumbledore will want to confront me tonight. And not only about what happened five years ago."

"Then with what?" asked Julius as the two men turned and headed down the hallway. Severus gazed at the wall he knew so well for a moment before turning to Julius.

"You saw what I did Julius. Now what did I use to do it?"

Julius almost stopped walking but continued down the corridor. "You used wandless magic. But you always-,"

"Not while I was here, Julius. Not when I was a wizard."

"And the old man noticed?"

Severus snorted and they turned to corner. "Of course. One of the things that makes the Headmaster seem so damn omnipotent is that he's so observant. So he usually knows what's going on or what's about to happen before everyone else."

"I always wondered about that. But what about the thing with the door?"

"I am not a god, Julius. Even I don't know the answer to that." He did actually but he decided not to tell Julius that Dumbledore used his glasses to see through the door.

Julius huffed. "I don't believe that for a second but I'll let it go."

"Smart man."

They had managed to go without passing any students at all but they finally came upon a small group since they were headed for the dungeons. Just at the entrance, they found a small group. Two Slytherins, Three Ravenclaws and a small Hufflepuff boy.

All of them acknowledge their Charms professor as he came near, but their eyes were riveted upon the stranger. Who was a stranger to all but the two fifth year Slytherins.

"Hello everyone."

"Hello Professor Fryer."

"How are you today, sir?" Julius had decided not to take the Head of House position but the students still came to him regularly.

"I'm fine thank you."

"And you sir?" asked one of the Slytherin students. The two, both boys, had been staring at the blue eyed man since the moment they laid eyes on him.

"I am well."

Julius fought back a grin. "This way," he said to Lex. Then turning to his students. "I'll see the rest of you later."

Julius always had the courtesy to knock on Rose's door before interrupting her. The one time Minerva had done it had resulted in the two women smelling like...well lets just say it wasn't pleasant.

"Professor Transt? Rose, you in?"

"Just a moment, dear!" The two men exchanged a look.

"She acts like Brea's mum. Only more...perky."

Severus grimaced at that. He liked Brea's mother greatly. She was a pleasant woman who was a great deal like Brea, but the older woman wasn't perky. More mellow. "How perky?"

"You'll see."

Lex shivered. Julius smirked.

And Rose opened the door. "Hello Julius! How are you?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. Oh she was perky alright. More so than his twins on a sugar high.

Rose stepped out after untying her apron. "How are you dear? What did you want?"

"Well, we were wondering if you could do us a favor. My friend here is investigating Mr. Potter's curse-,"

"Oh thank heavens! I hope the poor dear is alright."

"Yes, yes," continued Julius, "and we were wondering if he could use your laboratory for a while."

Before Rose answered, she dug into her pocket for her glasses. Placing them on she said, "Just a moment dear, let me get a look at your friend." Her voice slowed as she turned and actually got a look at him.

"You're...aren't you Severus Snape?" She looked nervous suddenly.

Julius frowned. Looking at Lex and seeing his nod (the man knew that the entire staff would have to be told) and said, "Yes this is Severus Snape."

They didn't expect Rose to smile. "Oh it's a pleasure to meet you Professor Snape. I've heard quite a bit about your accomplishments-," For a few more minutes Julius let Rose rant. The look on Lex's face was well worth it, however, they really needed to get to work.

"Rose, do you mind if Lex uses your lab?"

"Of course not dear! Professor Snape-,"

"Alexander, please, Madam." Severus said with a charming smile that Julius knew was fake.

She blinked. "Very well. Alexander, you may have full use of both my lab and stores."

Julius watched as the charm became a bit more real. "Thanks you, Professor Transt."

"It's Rose, my dear. Why don't you come in and get a look."

Neither commenting that Severus probably knew the place better than her, both Julius and Lex followed her inside.

* * *

Dinner came faster than anyone would have liked it to. Severus found himself hesitant to return to the Great Hall. So many memories there. Although the trip to the Headmaster's office would more than likely be much worse on his emotions. But he would be a man about it and face the music. Or rather the near 2000 faces that would be staring at him. He smirked. "On the other hand would it be so bad?" It would be interesting to see what the student body would make of him. 

He had thought of having dinner in Julius's room, but decided against it. Where was the fun in that? He was curious to see everyone's reaction, especially the other teachers that knew nothing of his arrival.

He did wonder about the Slytherins though. How would the seventh years, children he was fairly sure would remember him, act toward their former potions master who not only looked younger but was in muggle clothing. In his own mind, he would worry about the looks and clothing later and really wonder what he was doing in Hogwarts in the first place.

He leaned against the door of Julius's quarters waiting for his friend to finish washing up. They'd finished checking out Transt's labs (he ignored the thought that they were once his) and had come back up for a short moment. Lex had spoken to Chiara over the floo. The woman demanded to know if he was okay or did they need to come to Hogwarts.

Not wanting to answer any questions that would spring from their arrival, and the fact that Julius was out of Chiara's sight shaking his head furiously, he told her that everything was fine, there was no need to raise the body count and that he was about to go to dinner.

After another round of 'I'm okay, really', and he and Julius were out the door and headed for the Great Hall. Having refused to wear any wizarding robes of the kind, Severus got a number of looks as they headed toward the main corridor. It had been rare, if ever, the students had seen adults in Hogwarts walking around in muggle clothing. Lex found himself attracting quite a bit of attention. But would the students know who he was?

The moment he and Julius stepped into the Great Hall, everyone went quiet. Severus immediately started looking for reactions. Albus and the other few Order members on staff looked either pleasant (Albus) or grim (everyone else). The other teachers were stunned into silence at seeing their former colleague, the man they once believed a murderer.

The students were obviously curious at the sight of a muggle standing beside Professor Fryer in the Great Hall. All but a few. Severus could see the confusion the slight recognition in the eyes of all the seventh year students. The Slytherins especially. As he and Julius moved toward the Head Table, one of the Slytherin seventh years (Bethany Hines, he was surprised to remember) stood and took a few steps toward him. Severus halted. Julius did the same though he was a few steps ahead.

The girl looked at him quietly. "Professor Snape?" Whispers covered the Slytherin table and continued in the other.

Severus raised an eyebrow and in the same tone of voice he always used when speaking to his Slytherins, said, "Yes, Miss Hines?"

"It is you!" she cried. The other Slytherin seventh years stood and surrounded him silently. None made a move to hug him as Slytherins rarely did such things in public, but for their house, being close to him was good enough.

"I'm surprised you remember."

"It's kind of hard to forget you Professor." Another boy said. "We all thought you were dead. They never found you after you were acquitted."

"Perhaps they weren't looking hard enough." A laugh went through the small group of students. Bethany cleared her throat.

"Will you sit with us, Professor?"

Glancing at Julius, Severus said, "I'll stay here, Julius."

"I'll see you after dinner, Lex."

As Severus sat down with his former students, the Great Hall came to life, much louder than before.

TBC

Alia: Yeah I know this is a bad place to leave off but I tried. It was so had to just get past the office thing with Albus. But I swear that the next one will be more exciting. Review okay? And if you have any ideas on the confrontation for later...give it up!


	9. The Inquisition

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 9

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (What have the betting polls said?)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR.

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry it took so long. I just didn't have the inspiration to write at the moment and that can be pure hell. I thank the people who sent a few hints to get off my ass and write so thank you guys. These updates won't always be on track but I'll try to keep it to at least no more than two weeks. Please remember that I am working on Second Chances: The Raven's Gift Sequel and that will occupy my time too. And lets not forget school just started again. Also, I've been told that I should add more thought to the characters and try more different points of view. Thank you my dear beta: Aikidobrat. Thanks to all those that reviewed, too.

/are thoughts/

With Darkness Comes Anew

Dumbledore watched as students put aside their meals to watch Severus Snape sit with a few of his former Slytherins. The young man, who looked a lot younger than he should, could be seen nodding here and there as his Slytherins talked to him, probably dictating what went on with their lives and with Hogwarts since he left. /Or since the poor boy was jailed and unfairly at that./ After putting off furious questions from his staff for another time, Albus contemplated.

Although Albus gave his usually cheerful smile and demeanor, he was mentally suffering from guilt. A few days after they'd discovered not only Severus's innocence but his escape from prison, Dumbledore had battled the pain of throwing such a dear friend into a prison wrongly. He had questioned almost day and night whether or not Severus was dead and no locating charm that had been tried could find the man. He had gone on believing that Severus was dead and guilt had ridden the Headmaster's shoulders for two years. He managed to ignore it except on the anniversary of the discovery. /And to think it wasn't very long ago that the second anniversary has past./

Shaking his head slightly and taking a drink from his goblet, Albus thought on what would be said and questioned during Severus's visit to his office. /This will not be easy at all. Severus will not doubt be angry with us as he has already demonstrated. And the others, Arthur, Molly, their children, and the Order...how will they respond to Severus in the enclosed space? My goodness. The tension will be terrible. Especially since we must know about this new power that Severus has. It could be very dangerous./

Seeing that the Great Hall was emptying of people, Dumbledore got Minerva's attention as well as Julius, Remus and Sirius's and the small group headed toward the doors. Albus stopped on the way though, motioning the other Professors to continue. He came up behind Severus. "Excuse me?" He didn't know if he should call him Severus as he obviously didn't go by that name any longer. Snape sounded a bit cold and he certainly could say Professor Snape.

Severus turned around to face Dumbledore. "Is there something I can help you with, Headmaster?"

Albus smiled, only to receive a raised eyebrow in return. He tried not to let it bother him. "We are all heading toward my office to meet. I thought that you would like to join us."

Severus gave him a rather long look before nodding and standing himself. The Slytherins began to protest. Hines said, "Oh not yet, Professor! You've only just told us a little about you!"

A small first year, who'd ambled over to listen in with his older brother said, "And I want to hear about your twins! And the - OW!" His older brother glared at him then glanced at the Headmaster, then back to him. The small boy blushed. "Oops?"

His brother groaned. "You should have been a Hufflepuff."

Severus chuckled. He wasn't happy that that bit of information had been let out but he could ignore it just this once. "Perhaps later, Miss Hines." He turned to Albus. "After you, Headmaster."

As the two wizards walked toward the Headmaster's office, Albus wondered if he should approach the subject of what the small Slytherin had said. /Perhaps once we're inside my office. I just hope it doesn't feel like an inquisition./

Severus found himself thankful for the silence. /That is the last thing I need from the old man. Him bothering about my life. Like he hasn't helped enough in my life./ Severus looked at Albus's contemplative face. /Or the old coot is waiting until we go in his office. Shit./ Severus was thankful that Julius would be there.

After the password was given, both took the stairs and quickly found themselves before Albus's office door. The Headmaster entered first with Severus right behind him. Severus saw the frown on Julius's face before he even saw the chair formation. With him smack in the thick of it. Suddenly a Monty Python scene flew into his head about the Spanish Inquisition. He smirked. /Damn it Ash! I blame you for that./ His brother had a nasty habit of letting the slightest thing mess him up mentally. He'd never forget that time at the grocery.

Raising an eyebrow at the stares he was getting, Severus walked smooth to the chair before sitting down. He looked every one of them in the eye, causing quite a few -Lupin, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Fletcher, and all of the Weasleys- either looked away or dropped their eyes. /Good./ Dumbledore smiled at him as if trying to provide comfort. /Not bloody likely./ Black and Moody glared at him as if he was evil incarnate. /Very close gentlemen. Very close./ Julius grinned at him and Severus found it a bit hard not to smirk back.

He turned to Dumbledore. "I believe you wanted to speak to me, Headmaster?"

Albus sighed a bit seeing that this wasn't going to be easy. Severus noticed and thought/Hell no, old man. I'm not making anything easy for you./

"We just wanted to talk to you for a bit, Severus."

"I would really prefer if you called me Alex, Headmaster." Severus was off limits, even to family most times, except when the situation was really serious. Lex was better though, but only with family and friends. Alexander...it was probably best not to call him that under the circumstances. He was finally settling on a name for what he was. Like Chiara had claimed to be called Lady of the Light, Severus was simply settling on Alexander. It was easier that way, but he was still thinking about it.

Clearing his throat, Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, Alex, please forgive me." He continued. "Alex, first of all I think that we all owe you an apology. We should not have judged you so quickly in what happened that day, and should have kept our faith in you, especially since you stood by us all so steadfastly during the war. I am sorry that we didn't trust you." Heads nodded came from around the room, even from Black and Moody though hesitantly. Molly looked to be a wreck, but she nodded her apology as well with tears shining in her eyes.

Severus remained silent. Because of this, unfortunately, Dumbledore continued. "We hope that you do understand what kind of position we were placed in at the time."

Severus blinked and continued to look calmly at the Headmaster while mentally he was thinking/You BASTARD! The position YOU were put in/

"Not only were we all grieving for poor Ginny and worrying about young Harry, but the evidence against you was completely overwhelming and we weren't in the right frame of mind about checking everything."

"Especially with that idiot Fudge around," muttered Tonks.

Albus glanced at her then continued with his 'apology'. "Yes, the falsifying of the evidence was also not checked. My boy," Severus cringed slightly/I'm older than he is, "I also want to apologize for not having faith in you or your well being."

Severus glowered and felt slight pleased when some flinched, looking away. "I understand Headmaster. I understand completely that after risking my life for over twenty years for the 'cause', that not one of you had doubts of my raping and killing one of my students. Oh I see. So being jailed for life and maybe even given the kiss sooner or later shouldn't make me any less understanding of being betrayed. Being beaten by the aurors most of the day before and after my trial shouldn't make me bitter or keep me from understanding the delicate position that you all were put in.

Don't worry. I've dealt with betrayal plenty of times." He shot a sour look at Dumbledore. " So I want you to know that I am very understanding."

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the angry but cool tone. He sighed. "Severus," a cough, "Alex, please listen to me. You have children don't you? Twins?" Severus practically growled at him. "Think of how you would feel if one of them was killed? You wouldn't be very clear headed would you?"

"Don't you dare, bring my children into this Dumbledore? They have nothing to do with this!"

"I'm sorry!" sobbed Molly from the side. Arthur had pulled her into his arms. "I just needed someone to blame and you were just there!" she cried.

Severus sighed. "Molly, I can't say that I am at what happened, but Dumbledore is right that I understand, from YOUR point of view. I have lost a person dear to me and I know what that type of grief does to you. However I also know that no matter what I wanted the truth!" He turned away from her.

Shacklebolt decided to get a word in. "Snape, listen, we are sorry. We had no idea what was going on at the ministry at that time."

"And that makes it all better doesn't it. Tell me Shacklebolt, even before Fudge completely fucked up everything at the ministry, before you even saw the evidence...did you believe that I did it? That I raped and murdered Miss Weasley? That I knocked out Mr. Potter and planned to kill him as well? A person I've been protecting since the idiot boy got to this cursed school? Tell me." His voice had practically dropped to a low menacing purr. "Did you believe that I did it? Did you really have any type of faith in me?"

The entire room was filled with shouts, shouts of denial that came just a few seconds too quickly. Severus raised an eyebrow and all of them went quiet. "Don't lie to yourselves. It was there. You believed it."

"Se-Alex!" cried Albus.

"No. Even if you didn't want to believe, you did. Didn't you? And an honest answer would be appreciated this time." The room was quiet. Severus looked at Dumbledore, whose eyes were lowered in shame. "Yes, I thought so." He leaned back into his chair while glancing at a somber looking Julius.

The werewolf nodded his head toward Lex then said, "Perhaps we should concentrate on Mr. Potter and his condition? That is what Lex is here for."

Dumbledore nodded. "You are correct Julius, thank you. Alex, is there anything that you can tell us about Harry."

"Since some of you weren't there at the time, I'll speak of what is happening with Potter. Right now, he's healed physically. I will have to do a scan on his magical signature because that's what the curse affects most. Because of the curse being placed into potion, I'll have to do research. There is really no telling what it could do. At the moment however, Potter will be fine. He should wake tomorrow and I'll begin the scan then. Do you have any questions?"

"What is the amulet suppose to do be scanning for exactly Lex?" asked Julius.

"Have you ever heard of DNA?" At the blank looks, he rolled his eyes. /I can not complain too much. I didn't even know about it before./ "According to the muggles, DNA is the blueprint of all life. It's a sequence of codes that build on to each other to create larger structures." At the still blank looks, he growled. "Think of it as a string of colored building blocks tied together in patterns. The pattern is blue, green, red and white. You could say that a person's magical signature is something like that. In this case something has been injected that has interfered with the original structure. Using the example it would be another color. I have to find and detect that injected structure than remove it. Hopefully, nothing bad will be affected because of what form the curse was in."

Everyone nodded as most understood what Snape, or rather Evanson, was talking about. "I'll begin the scan tomorrow after Potter has awaken."

"So you will be staying the night?" asked Albus.

Severus sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, yes. Do you mind sharing Julius?"

The werewolf blushed and glared at Lex, not liking the tone of his voice. "Ha ha. Funny. As long as you keep your hands to yourself I'm fine."

"I take offense to that. I never lay a hand on someone else's property." He left off the 'unless permission is given'. Julius knew Brea well enough that she might say yes to him.

Albus cleared his throat. "The two of you seem to be very good friends. How did you meet, Julius?" He directed the question at Fryer because he had a feeling that Severus wouldn't answer.

"Through a mutual friend." He didn't say anything else. He doubted that Lex wanted him to do so.

Dumbledore sighed mentally seeing that Julius wouldn't give in. "Are you and your friend close Alex?"

"I don't see how that's your business, Headmaster."

"I am just curious my boy. I wish to know about your life. Your friends, your family, and-,"

"I do not believe that is any of your business, excuse me, Headmaster."

"My boy," he ignored Severus's grimace, "I only wish to get to know the person who you are now."

"Headmaster, you didn't know the person I once was."

"I wish only to look out for you Severus, for your best interests!" Dumbledore regretted it as soon as he said it.

"Like always, eh Headmaster?"

The Headmaster became silent seeing that he would not get anywhere with Severus.

Nodding Severus stood. "If that is all, you will excuse me. I believe I should check on Mr. Potter." Julius stood to follow his friend.

However, it was Moody who also stood. "Just a minute Snape!"

Severus glowered at him and smirked as a small shiver went down Alastor's spine. /Yes, you old bastard, you had better be afraid./ "How can I help you Moody?" He was being coldly polite in a way that only a Malfoy could be.

Moody glared at him, though it didn't affect Severus in the least bit. "What happened in that hospital room today!"

Severus straightened and raised an eyebrow. "I'm quite sure that you were informed of it."

"Alastor..." Dumbledore said with a bit of censure in his voice.

The habitually paranoid auror continued to stare at Snape, ignoring Dumbledore. "I always told Dumbledore that we should have tossed you into Azkaban long ago." He missed the flash that appeared in Severus's eyes for a moment. "Dark magic, Snape! And wandless as well, eh!" He gave a rather harsh laugh. "Oh you are definitely innocent aren't you, Death Eater! Maybe not of Weasley and Potter, but you ARE guilty of evil! Aren't you!"

Severus snorted. "Moody, haven't we played this song and dance a million times before?" Severus was not in the mood for this crackpot's mad ravings.

Sirius Black stood with a fierce look upon his face. /Why am I not surprised that it would be this fool/ thought Severus.

Black stomped over to get into Snape's face. An amused look overcame Severus even as Black started spouting that he'd always been an evil bastard. Of course it never made any sense.

Lupin came over and yanked Black backwards by his collar. "Severus," at the glare, he quickly corrected himself, "Alex. I want to apologize for Moody and Sirius." He paused to give both men a displeased look. "We were only concerned about the wandless magic. How is it possible that you could do such powerful magic without a wand? Not even Harry and Albus can do such a thing and they are the strongest."

"That Lupin is a secret that will have to be kept."

Black got angrier than before. "You and your 'friend' keep a lot of secrets don't you, Snape? First the Wolfsbane and now this!"

Severus frowned, then a slow smirk grew over his face as he looked at Black and Lupin. He turned to Julius, who was suddenly nervous at the look on his face. "Caesar, I thought I told you not to say anything about the cure I gave you?" He said it rather casually, but it got the shock factor that he wanted.

Julius groaned at the looks that everyone wore. It was shock that was slowly slipping into despair. He suddenly felt for Lupin. Because as they were all realizing, it was very unlikely that Lex would give Remus a cure.

Remus's mouth had fallen open as he heard the words from Snape's mouth. /No. Oh god. Severus found a cure. But I know I'll be damned forever now./

To be honest, Severus didn't care about Lupin. The werewolf could drop dead and he would probably be curious to know how but nothing else. However, he would have given Lupin the cure if the werewolf had asked. At least until Black opened that mouth of his.

Sirius suddenly knew that had it ever come between killing Voldemort or Snape, he'd pick Snape. The bastard had a cure for Remmy and he wasn't going to give it to him. All because of a mistake! It wasn't their fault that Snape was such a good little Death Eater that they believed he would kill Ginny and maybe even Harry. /Let's not forget how they thought the same about me./ Deciding to ignore the thought and just follow his instincts, he muttered, "You are really proud of yourself, aren't you, Snivellus." All Sirius would remember later was Snape's eyes turning totally black.

Remus cried out as a loud roar filled the room and Sirius was tossed across the room. Julius sat down a bit shaken. Lex hadn't moved. Not one muscle but Julius supposed that he had been the only one besides the now incapacitated Sirius Black to see the man's eyes go totally black.

Everyone, Dumbledore, McGonagal, the Weasleys, and the rest of the Order, stood with their wands in hand. Severus snarled at them and suddenly each was found a new home. All of them were planted deeply into the ceiling, all lying vertically. They stared at their wands, then turned their stunned expressions to Severus, who said, "If you can't behave with them, then you can't have them."

Had the situation not been so frightful, Julius would have laughed at the parental voice Lex used to purposely be condescending.

Minerva gasped, "What are you?" This couldn't possibly be Severus Snape. He was too young, too powerful, too different to be Snape.

Severus snorted. "I'm a vampire, Minerva. I thought you knew," he said rudely but jokingly. Moody, being the 'Constant Vigilance' kind of guy, stood with his wand arm out...only to realize that his wand was stuck in the ceiling. His eyes widened and he missed the small smile that graced Severus's face just before his eye fell out and rolled across the floor.

/A little push of magic does wonders./ thought Severus.

"My eye!" Crunch.

Albus, who had just taken a step, gasped and raised his foot. "Oh dear!"

"Lose something, Alastor?" asked Severus. He glanced at Julius who almost lost it. The werewolf had his hand over his mouth and was trying not to catch anyone's attention.

Sirius, who had unfortunately woken from his flight and collision, stood and stumbled toward Snape. "Fuck you, Snivellus! You should have rotted in that prison!" Calls of Sirius's name were ignored. "You should be dead. No one wants a worthless bastard like you and I don't care what anyone says. I know you're just some heartless murdering bastard! S-,"

Severus had had enough.

Before he'd known it, he'd snapped. Black found himself suspended in air and Severus found himself fighting to keep control. No one had the right to judge him, especially these people. "You know nothing Black. You know shit about me or my life and it is going to stay that way. I am going to help Potter then get the bloody hell out of this fucking castle. I never want to see any of you fools again if I can help it." He turned to leave then paused. "By the way Black. Don't call me what you are. And be careful from now on. It's amazing how much memories a single word can contain."

Sirius turned horizontal then hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Severus didn't notice that everyone had rushed over to see to Sirius nor that Julius was walking toward Severus. The enraged Symbol was too busy storming from the room.

TBC

Alia: Sorry it took so long but here it is. I'll get to work on the explanations now. And I gave you just a hint at that last line. You still won't get it though. But maybe you will. Review, okay? Give me encouragement!


	10. A walk and explanations

Sorry it took so long to update. (blushes) I can't believe I haven't updated since JANUARY! I always bitch about some authors waiting months to update and then I do it. Sorry! Now for Reviews!

**aikidobrat**: Thanks for the support! Besides, you helped me get through this chapter, remember?  
**Melissa Jooty**: God do you have any clue how hard this was for me? This is one of my first real confrontations in a story. Gave me the absolute blues! It was easy to understand why you would be pissed at everyone else but forgive Molly. I mean would you be rational if your child died. I feel a little sorry for Remus. I placed that in because Remus needs to realize just what SIRIUS costs him. Hmm...that gives me an idea. Thanks! Sirius likes denial. Like that crap about being a kid when they pulled those pranks. That's bull! They pulled pranks in my high school (although those involved a sloped hallway ramp, condoms, and lubricant) but we never tried to kill anyone! And some of us hated each other!  
**TEC**: I just hope that I gave you a good enough explanation. Understanding yourself is one thing. Explaining it is entirely different. I may have to redo this entire chapter.  
**Linda**: Here, I'll pat it for you. Good job. Some people still had a few problems understanding things. My fault probably. I'm sorry but I gave Ash my thought processes. Things will jump into my head from absolutely nowhere! I may have another update of Second Chances either tonight or tomorrow.  
**TKnight**: Trax? Well I'm very glad you like it!  
**Baculities**: I'm just mean. I'll have to work on that now won't I? Thanks for reviewing.  
**Sinful Wolf**: Like the name. Don't worry about other appearances. But maybe. And yes poor Julius. He's going to be one overworked middle man by the time I'm through with him. And I'm still working on Second Chances. Never fear!

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 10

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (What have the betting polls said?)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry it took so long. I just didn't have the inspiration to write at the moment and that can be pure hell. I thank the people who sent a few hints to get off my ass and write so thank you guys. These updates won't always be on track but I'll try to keep it to at least no more than two weeks. Please remember that I am working on Second Chances. However, the semester is ending and I'll have more time to work during the summer... Unless I get a job. Thank you my dear beta: Aikidobrat.

With Darkness Comes Anew 10

Severus was furious as he stormed past the gargoyle and out into the corridor. His hands were clenched tightly as he moved down the hallway. Severus could feel his nails slowly cutting through the skin.

Because of the heavy panting behind him, Julius could be heard running down the steps trying to catch up with the man. "Lex! Lex wait!"

Severus paused and clenched his teeth trying to regain just a bit of control. He didn't want to explain to Brea why he killed her lover. "Julius, do not follow me. You are a friend of mine but I fear that I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment," growled Severus as he moved even faster through the halls of Hogwarts.

Lex could feel his chest growing tighter as he stormed out of the damned school. He couldn't believe those BASTARDS/How dare they have the nerve enough to judge me/ They knew NOTHING! Severus stumbled at bit. His power was being affected by his emotions which were especially negative at the moment and almost totally out of his control. Unfortunately with Chiara missing in action, his power couldn't counter itself. He was going to blow. Almost literally. He needed Alexander.

"Lex?" Julius was slowing in his jog after his friend.

Severus turned slightly, his body was beginning to shake. His breath was coming harshly as he tried to keep his control. It wasn't working. /Damn it Julius/ He looked at his friend who cringed in fear. Severus knew why. He could feel it. His eyes were flickering black now. Back and forth. In just a moment, his magic would lose total control. Taking a particularly long breath, he then whispered, "I'll be in the forest. Don't disturb me Julius."

The shaking was now coming from his friend. Severus turned his back on Julius and hurried toward the Forbidden Forest. If he could just get far away enough from Hogwarts...He didn't want to release his 'self', Alexander, until he was in that forest. As emotionally unbalanced as Severus was at that moment, Alexander would destroy the school.

He finally started running for the beautiful yet terrifying sight of the Forbidden Forest. The dark quiet of the forest was calling him, offering him sanctuary. Severus was determined to take it up on its offer.

Soon he was racing through the forest trying to get as far inside as possible. Falling quickly to his knees, Severus began to pray. He wasn't stable enough to keep calm, to not do anything...bad. So he needed someone else to.

"Parvulus of Obscurum voluptarius

Secuutus of Obscurum asks

Senior of Obscurum dico

Embodiment to order

Obscurum Exorior Volo"

The darkness, the shadows, swirled around him offering comfort and trying to get the dark mage to release what he was withholding. So he let go.

Lex hadn't gotten far enough. Even as he stood on hands and knees on the soft ground of the Forbidden Forest, he could hear the alarms from Hogwarts' wards. The alarms that he was causing. Alexander smirked. Not that he cared.

Alexander closed his eyes in ecstacy as the dark power not only pulsed through the body of Severus, his living embodiment in this world, but through the Forbidden Forest and to the school and town nearby. He grinned widely as he heard the screams of fear nearby. /All in a day's work/ he thought with a chuckle.

Alexander the Dark Knight, youngest of all the elements, the yang of the Lady of the Light, stood and stretched languidly, sexuality and danger clear in his every move. Running fingers through his now waist length silk black hair, the element of darkness let out a small yawn. He turned and glared back at the school with his black eyes. The anger on his face, that was slightly different from his living embodiment, made the now angelic features down right terrifying. /Someday.../ He knew that Severus, or Lex as he preferred to be called, wouldn't like for the mortals to die. That was the only reason he'd ran. /Should have stayed. I haven't seen a good blood bath in a while./

Shrugging, Alexander began walking away from the school, slowly stripping himself of Severus's clothing. He usually didn't have to because Severus was dressed for the occasion. Today however, his embodiment was not in leather, Alexander's favorite choice in clothing. Of course he had no problem wearing nothing at all either. /Reputations must be kept after all./ A sharp flow of power made his shoes disappear and he continued walking with no problem, only softness dared touch his feet on the floor of the Forbidden Forest. Eyes filled with darkness closed in pleasure as Severus's jeans slipped to the ground leaving Alexander totally nude.

He glanced around and saw nothing but the trees. Then some of the creatures were smart enough to run. Others, the ones his power called to, remained near but hidden. Alexander ignored them and continued walking through the forest, his movements easy and calm, yet had any man or woman seen him, they would not have known whether to rush forward or run away. The creature that resembled a fallen angel paused in his walk.

He could feel the power nearby. So ancient and old that it drew a shiver down his back. She was close. /I wonder what she's doing here. I can take care of Severus, my self. The last thing we need is a babysitter./ It was amazing that none of the Symbols suffered from severe schizophrenia. More than likely, poor Julius still didn't know who had come after him that day in his classroom. Alexander chuckled.

A Symbol was a worshiper, a mage, as well as the living embodiment of an element. Not easy to contemplate once you thought about it. Especially since there were times when they didn't have control of their embodiments, yet Severus could be called Alexander or Sarah could be called Tsunami at any time.

A Symbol was chosen as an embodiment by an element, at least in this world, for their understanding of said element. Severus had been chosen because the younger man had a good enough understanding of it. Darkness was imperfection. And it was really that simple. Darkness was the thing that made you capable of doing evil and wrong because it made you less than perfect.

Severus had learned that it was a infliction of life itself. All those who bore a type of consciousness all had darkness in them. So no matter how kind or innocent they were, no matter how honorable, they could do horrible things. Alexander had no real knowledge of when Severus came to this knowledge but it could have been after his trial.

Darkness wasn't so bad, however. Without Darkness there would be no progress, only stagnation. Then where would the world be?

/All life is chaos, a wild, unbalanced blend of the elements, especially darkness and light./ You could say that life was just a gray area. Not the perfect explanation as it had a flaw or two, but it was the simplest.

Alexander could feel the power nearby getting stronger so he took a seat.

Being a Symbol meant that you had to dedicate yourself to a power. That you had to worship an element. Alexander shook his head at the memories in Lex's mind. He was surprised that Breanna and Sarah hadn't had a harder time with it after Mother had returned their memories. Both were Christians, Breanna a baptist and Sarah a catholic, and had only believed in worshiping God. /Good thing they didn't have problems./ It would have taken time to find others to take their places.

A Symbol was also chosen for power. Severus had not been the strongest in power before becoming a symbol. Alexander could have chosen many others but Severus had a great ability for becoming a dark mage.

When they'd first been brought before Mother, she'd de-aged all of them, removing their memories of their lives, before raising them all to be mages of a certain element. Severus had done the best at dark magic of them all. The wizard had excelled at all aspects of it. He'd been pleased to have Severus as his embodiment.

Under Mother's care, Severus and the others had grown again, becoming stronger emotionally, physically, and magically. The six had the best training from not only Mother but other Symbols that she'd called from other worlds to help. They were almost perfect. Trained killers, healers, protectors, leaders and much more.

Lex and the other Symbols also grew close together, entwined with powerful bonds. /Just like their elements./ thought Alexander.

It had been when the young Symbols had regained their memories, something called an Awakening, that things had gone to hell. The Symbols had been shocked at the memories that blasted through their minds. Severus, Breanna, Sarah and Ashton had it the worst. Unlike Chiara and Terrence who'd had mostly normal lives, the others had suffered strong emotional pain.

They had almost drifted apart but the emotional support they'd gained from each other had brought them even closer. They need that. Especially after the Breaking. This was when you had to face the past. Severus had started to ignore his original past and concentrate on the life that he'd created with Mother. That could not have continued. Severus had needed the understanding his first life had given him.

So Mother had placed them all in separate rooms forcing them to emotionally relive the pain that they'd both caused and received while being physically tortured. It had not been pleasant and Alexander could still feel the reverberation of the pain that his embodiment had to go through. Hogwarts had been the main point of Severus's emotional torment. One of the reasons Alexander had no problem ever blowing it up.

He would remember one thing fondly. It had not been easy for some of them to be broken. Terrence and Chiara, surprisingly, didn't need to be broken. On the other hand, the embodiments of Fire, Water, Wind, and Darkness went through hell but fought every step of the way. The four were extremely stubborn. Every time they were knocked down, they got back up. Alexander had checked in on them all. It had amused him immensely to see the one told to torture Breanna, stop dead in his tracks because of her cursing. Even Alexander had learned a few new words that day.

Afterward, the young Symbols had banded together for support. Restoration, when they would again faced their pasts, was helpful in creating unbreakable bonds between them all. Severus's brothers and sisters had walked beside him as he went through his past. Defending him, even when Severus was at his worse, and cursing anyone that said even a harsh word to the potions master. Chiara had calmly said heaven help any of them if they had to go to Hogwarts.

"Alexander?" said a soft voice. The Dark Knight turned and smiled at Mother.

At the moment, she was taking the form of an old Mexican woman. Her dark hair was gray here and there and she wore a simple yellow dress, her feet bare. It was her eyes that always gave her away or else you probably wouldn't even notice her. Her eyes danced with color. Her pupils were circles of dark colors but her irises held much lighter colors. Unlike the Symbols, whose eyes turned a completely solid color when their elements inhabited them, it was easier to tell when Mother was looking at you. Her movements were almost ghostlike. She was so apart of everything that it seems as if she glided instead of walked.

"Hello, Mother." He stood from his seat on the ground.

Mother gave her son a gentle smile. "Hello, Alexander."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to check up on you. Come sit back down." She sat down in the damp grass beside her annoyed son.

"Bloody hell, Mother, we don't need a babysitter!"

Mother gave her son a look. "No you don't. Most of the time," she said, answering her son as rudely as he spoke to her.

Alexander gives a soft apology. Mother rolls her eyes. Then she turns her eyes to him. "Shouldn't you dress?"

"Not at the moment. I like it like this. Besides, we won't be going back to Hogwarts for a while longer."

"Dress, Alexander. Severus wouldn't appreciate it. He's much more confident about his body and appearance but no where near your level." Mother nodded her head toward him. She always called the embodiment of darkness by his original name.

"Oh alright!" Tossing his hands into the air, he stood gracefully and closed his dark eyes. For a moment, it would seems as if the shadows themselves came to life. The darkness around Severus's body began to move slowly, to cover him. Slowly they moved from his feet to his knees, to thighs, hips, torso and chest. It stopped after reaching his shoulders.

The shadows covering him shimmered for a moment before dispersing. Mother smiled at her son. Alexander now wore Formal Symbol Attire. His long black hair was now in a long braid down his back although wisps of black hair drifted into his face. He wore a long black robe that trailed to the floor. It had no buttons and hung open to show his bare chest. Long black ties held the sleeves and shoulders together. One good pull and the robe would fall off immediately. At the moment, small glimpses of pale skin could be seen along the arms and shoulders. Embroidered along the hem of the robe were small snakes, Severus's personal touch, but they were near impossible to see as they were as black as the rest of the robe. Lastly, Alexander wore supple black leather pants that looked painted on but were easy to move in. He also were black, knee high dragonhide boots.

"Better?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Mother laughed at him. "Much. I'm sure Severus will appreciate it."

"You would think that you wouldn't want to see me in all my glory!"

"I don't." She replied smartly causing Alexander to snort. Mother gave her child a long look. "Alexander, is Severus alright? What happened at Hogwarts?" She had no idea except that her son was rather upset. She was Nature in all it's glory but she wasn't omnipotent. She wasn't Chaos.

"He'll be fine. He's much calmer now."

"What happened?" she demanded.

Alexander gave her the short version on what happened. "In other words, they pissed him off." He sighed. "If it wasn't for that Potter boy, Severus wouldn't have even returned."

He stopped. Mother had a rather peculiar look on her face when he mentioned Potter. Now she stared into the shadows. Onyx eyes narrowed at her. "You know something...don't you?"

Mother glanced at him. "Perhaps."

"Well? I'm sure Severus would appreciate the help. He wants to help the boy and leave as soon as possible."

Mother found herself glowering at her son. Alexander found himself cringing at the look. "It's not important. I was just remembering something. And whatever it is," she snapped pointing at her son, "it has nothing to do what is happening now. I'm sure of it."

Alexander sighed. "Very well." He looked at her for a long moment. "How have you been doing Mother? Any natural disasters lately?"

"That's your sisters' jobs." She muttered sourly remembering that last hurricane in the Americas. "I went to a Council meeting a couple days ago."

Alexander knelt beside her, interest clear on his face. "They haven't called on of those in some time. Did all of you attend?" 'All' meaning all the sect leaders. A sect meaning a world. Each sect consisted of the elements of that world, which was always an even number, and the leader, who in their case was Mother.

"Surprisingly yes." There was actually a rather large number of sects. No one could give an exact number at the moment.

"What happened that the Council had to call a meeting?" Like many, even the sect leaders had to have organization. The council were the rule makers over the entire group of sect leaders. There were twenty of them, each a sect leader but the twenty were the most powerful of all the sects. Mother herself had been invited to join but she had said no. She hadn't created a sect yet although she held sway over her world.

"...do you remember meeting the Alvenas sect?"

Alexander growled. Oh he remembered them, or rather their Light embodiment. The man had infuriated Severus, telling him how inferior he was beside the light and how darkness should be destroyed. Chiara had been appalled but what angered Alexander is that not only did the embodiment of darkness say nothing, the Darkness of that world remained silent.

Mother hummed a bit at his growl. "I thought so. Apparently, the Light embodiment has been causing problems."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"He's trying to rise against Alvenas."

Alexander's jaw dropped. Not an image most would affiliate with Darkness. It couldn't be helped however. He couldn't believe... /How can you uprise...against your Father? It doesn't make sense./ It was beyond comprehension to him. Sure it happened with the creatures in their world, but such things never happened with sects. The Davia sect, named after Mother's real name, would NEVER even think about doing such a thing.

"I...you have to be joking."

"I am not. Gryst, the light embodiment, was combined with his element when he challenged Alvenas. Alvenas won of course, but many are worried that he may not do so next time." She decided not to tell her son of what else was happening with that sect...or that something was terribly wrong with Alvenas's dark embodiment.

Alexander leaned against the tree shaking his head. "I say just kill him and find another."

Mother shot him a disapproving look, "You know that it is not that easy, Alexander. The dark embodiment would feel the backlash."

Alexander didn't feel all that sorry for her. How you could let your ying just go wild? The Lady would whip him into shape if ever tried to do something like that, nevermind what Chiara would do to poor Severus.

Mother glanced at him. "Have you told him about the twins yet?" She knew Severus would be far from happy when he found out what happened.

He looked at her as if she'd gone insane. "Of course not!"

"You have to tell him."

"Why can't you do it!" he whined. The last thing he wanted Severus to know was what happened with the twins. Apparently being around Symbols 24-7 had its risks.

"Because you are his element!" she yelled, losing her temper. For a moment, there was a disturbance in all the elements as they felt her anger.

Alexander pressed a hand to his face. "He'll find out sooner or later. It'll be hard not to. It may not be easy for him to take."

"Time brings healing and understanding. He's recovered from Mary's death."

Alexander's head shot up and he gave her a dark look that would have killed anyone weaker and would have made even his siblings take a step back. His eyes flickered to Severus's norm for a moment. "Do not bring Mary into this..."

Mother smiled sadly at him. /For the Darkness, with all it's imperfections, loved the light. And Mary, with her kindness and compassion, had truly been of the light./

Severus had met Mary just a week after moving into a new apartment. The nine month pregnant woman had been going to her apartment when her water had broken, scaring her to death. She'd stopped at the first door she'd come across. The door had been Severus's.

The former Hogwarts professor had been stunned to find a sobbing, heavily pregnant woman at his door. Severus had brought her in and cared for her until the paramedics arrived. What the poor wizard hadn't expected was for her to hold onto to him the entire time, forcing Severus to go through not only the trip to the hospital but the birth of the twins as well.

The event, and the support a stunned Severus had managed to give Mary, had endeared him to her. Somehow, with the twins' help, the two had become friends. Nothing more would come out of it however as Severus was the exact opposite of straight. Mary had merely laughed it off when he told her. Apparently the twins' namesakes had been gay, her late adopted father and his lover.

She had become a true friend to Severus. Mary had even accepted him with no problems after he told her that he'd become a Symbol. She had told it that it was fantastic. Was it any wonder that her murder had hit him so hard?

No matter how smart or sweet Mary had been, everyone made mistakes. Mary's had always been her taste in men. The twins father, who Severus didn't know or care to, had left her the moment he'd heard she was pregnant. Emma's father...well he was getting what was coming to him. Mother smiled coldly at that. /Oh yes. He's definitely paying for what he did./

The bastard had been abusive toward her. Mary had hidden it like a professional but Severus had found out from the twins of all people. The boys had seen the man hit Mary and had let it slip while visiting Severus, who they mostly identified as their father.

He'd confronted Mary who'd begged, then demanded, that Severus stay out of it. She'd told him that she could take care of herself. Severus had agreed, although VERY reluctantly, on the condition that if her lover came over, the twins stayed with him or one of the others.

The other Symbols, who had also loved and befriended Mary, had been furious but had stayed out of it. Later Severus blamed himself. That he should have gone against Mary's requests.

She'd been eight months pregnant with Emma, when the bastard had beaten her into a coma. The yelling had attracted Terrence. All the Symbols had moved into the same apartment building as none of them liked being far from each other. The black man had stormed in just as Mary's boyfriend were headed toward the terrified twin boys.

Terrence had tossed the man into the adjacent wall, knocking him unconscious, then ran to check on Mary. Acknowledging that she needed medical attention quickly, Terry had summoned some of his healing powers...but for some reason, they only worked to save Emma and not help Mary. He'd called for help before seeing to the twins, knowing that nothing more could be done for Mary. Sometimes it was just a person's time, even if it was caused by murder.

Emma had arrived by cesarian as her comatose mother could do nothing to help with her birth. Mary was declared brain dead soon after her arrival in the hospital.

Severus had taken it hard and had been able to mourn for a short time before helping the twins overcome their mother's death and taking care of Emma, as Mary's will left him their legal guardian. Still it had been hard for all of them.

/Although/ Mother thought/it was a lot easier after they got revenge./

It had been soothing for all of the Symbols really. He'd been convicted of murder and sentence to life in prison. However, thanks to the Symbols, he'd escaped and was placed into their own prison. At the moment, the man was buried underground in some unknown location screaming at the top of his lungs. His punishment was that he remain there, a year for every harsh hand he raised against Mary or her children. Only in the final year would his body slowly decay, with him fully aware, and allow him to die when it was over.

Mother turned back to her son to see calm black eyes back to normal. /Severus./ "Better, little one?"

Lex snorted at being called 'Little one' but she called all the embodiments that. The elements were the only ones that got any respect in his view. "Yes, Mother. Don't worry. I won't go on any killing sprees."

She laughed. "Oh, I don't know. Alexander just may enjoy that." She leaned forward and pressed a motherly kiss against his cheek. "I have to go."

"An earthquake to plan, hmm?" Severus said with a partial smile on his lips.

"Not quite. Julius is getting a bit braver and is at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It's time for you to get to bed."

He nodded. He was tired and could use a reprieve. "Are you going to see the others about what happened at the Council?" He'd had full awareness of what was happening around him though Alexander had blocked out a few things.

She nodded. "Yes. I figure it will give them something interesting to talk about."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you later Mother." He turned and began walking away before pausing and looking over his shoulder. "Visit Emma and the twins while in London. I am sure they would love to see you."

The old woman laughed. "Alright dear. Now off with you." She disappeared without so much as a ripple in the air.

Severus walked toward the edge of the forest chuckling.

TBC

Alia: Okay, I'm not even going to lie and say, 'Oh I'll try to update faster!' I will only jinx myself. Review and tell me what I should write on next. I have a good idea. I just need to think up the scene but suggestions are welcome.


	11. Symptoms show

Alia: Um...I'm trying. I know I'm taking too long but I'm working on it now aren't I?

Reviews: bookwyrm, Tazthedevilman (hi Audrey!), voland, and Jennie- Thanks for reviewing you guys. It's really appreciated. Jennie sorry about that but like I said, Unbetaed. This one is too but I haven't seen my beta in a whle.

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 11

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (What have the betting polls said?)

SPOILERS: not including OotP

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry it took so long. But this is faster than my last update. I hope you enjoy it.

Julius gave a sigh of relief as he saw Severus leave the Forbidden Forest. "I was worried for a while there. What would I have told Brea? 'Sorry, love but I just lost him'! She'd have killed me."

"I'm quite certain that she would have." Severus came closer and Julius finally got a good look at his friend.

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you wearing?"

"Haven't you seen Breanna when she changes into that golden dress of hers?" It was actually more yellow than gold but the glow was beautiful.

"I think so but what is it?"

Severus gave a long sigh of frustration. "This is the formal attire of an Embodiment. This is mine. Everyone has one just slightly different."

"Oh. Why do you change into it?"

"You know that day you pissed me off?"

Julius grimaced. Both men turned to head back toward the castle. "Yes."

"The amount of power Brea used went beyond those of a mage even one of our power. She called for her element, Zephyr, to spare your life. When I lost control, I unknowingly siphoned power from my element. One of the reasons we are so damned dangerous on a rampage." The two entered the school.

"So is that what happened to you? And...is that why the alarms went off?"

"Too much dark magic nearby overwhelmed the wards."

Julius nodded. "Alright. I just thought I'd ask. Some of the staff are going over the grounds to check things out."

"Well they won't find much of anything."

"Come on Lex. You look exhausted." Julius started for his quarters. Lex started to follow when he paused in the hall and released a soft curse. Julius turned to see him. "What is it?"

"I said that I would check on Potter tonight." He looked at Julius. "Go on to bed. I'll be there later."

"I'll transfigure the couch for you. Night, Lex."

"Goodnight." Both men waved to each other before going their separate ways, Severus magically changing his attire to what he'd worn before.

* * *

Lex entered the infirmary silently. /Pomfrey should still be awake by now./ Going into Potter's room, he opened the door and peered inside. Poppy stood next to the bed arranging Potter's blankets on the bed. 

"How is he?"

Poppy jumped, startled by Severus's voice. "Oh! Dear me." She placed one hand over her quickly beating heart. "Severus-,"

"Alex," he said softly, his eyes staying on Harry.

"...Alex, I didn't see you there." She dropped her eyes.

Severus ignored her. "Did you collect the blood I asked you for?"

Poppy nodded. "Yes. I have it here." She picked up five vials from the table next to Harry's bed and handed them to Lex. He nodded to her in appreciation then moved closer to Potter.

The boy was asleep at the moment. "Again. How has he been?"

"Well, as you said, he did wake up though he was extremely groggy. He ate a bit of broth and he did complain about soreness."

"You didn't give him anything, of course?"

She frowned at him. /As if I'm that stupid/ "No. I rubbed a bit of salve Mrs. Weasley brought. It's for muggles."

Lex nodded again. He reached down and brushed a strand of hair from Potter's forehead. He glanced at the amulet that still lay on the table beside Potter. He moved away and turning toward the door said, "I'll return tomorrow morning. If anything happens, come to me immediately."

* * *

Severus yawned as he rose from his transfigured bed the next morning. It was the first time in a while, he hadn't been waken by a wailing baby or someone riding him like a horse while screaming 'I'm hungry, Daddy!'. Too bad it hadn't been too peaceful. /A day here and I can't wait to leave./ Sighing he stood and headed toward his satchel. 

Before he reached it there was a knock at the door. Pulling on a pair of boxers and turning the bed back into a couch he turned toward the door. "Enter."

Minerva stood in the doorway and was slowly turning a bright red. "My word, Severus! Is it so difficult to put on some clothes!" She turned quickly.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "First of all, don't call me Severus. Second of all, if I wanted, I'd go around the damn school naked," Minerva squawked at that.

"And third of all, it probably wouldn't bother you so much if you weren't such a fucking prude." He smiled sweetly at her stiff back. Throwing on an old gray shirt and pulling on a pair of black jeans and boots, Severus pronounced himself decent.

Minerva turned and frowned at him. "I thought you would like to go to breakfast. You were going to sleep right through so I thought..."

Seeing the sad look go over for a moment, Lex relented, a little. "Thank you Professor McGonagal. After you."

She didn't remark on how he didn't call her Minerva anymore. She merely turned and left the room. Severus followed.

Soon they entered the Great Hall. The entire school seemed to brighten with excitement and interest the moment Lex entered. The Slytherins all smiled and nodded at the man. A few gave him a sly look here and there. Lex sighed mentally at that. /Not that I can blame them. I'm actually quite proud that they thought of going to the media. They had better have gotten something out of it though./

He ignored the teaching staff and sat in an empty chair between Dumbledore and Fryer. Dumbledore smiled at him. "Good morning, Alex."

Lex thought about not acknowledging the old man but merely said, "Headmaster." He turned to Julius, ignoring Dumbledore's disappointed look.

Julius was drinking a rather large cup of coffee while trying to keep his eyes open. Lex chuckled as he sat down beside the werewolf. "Not a morning person Julius?"

The man glared at him. "Go to hell."

Severus laughed. "And I see you have Brea's sunny disposition too!"

Julius glanced at him. "What time did you get in? I woke up around two last night and went to check on you. You weren't there."

"About four."

Julius's eyes widened. "That's less than four hours ago."

"I have twins and an infant."

Julius started laughing loudly, drawing a bit of attention. "You are right on that account."

"Of course." Severus watched the Daily Prophet come flying into the Great Hall. He leaned over and whispered to Julius, "Brace yourself. The entertainment is about to arrive."

Julius took a deep breath and prayed that a certain article wouldn't be in the paper. His luck ran out.

With a smirk, Severus plucked the paper out of the hands of the muttering werewolf and straightened it dramatically. "My, my! What have we here? 'Hero Returns to Hogwarts! Severus Snape, who was falsely accused of murder and rape charges five years ago, returned yesterday to his former place of employment Hogwarts, School of Magic and Wizardry.' Why Julius, I'm famous!" he declared sarcastically.

Julius chuckled. He played along. "You seem to be correct, Lex! And the front page too. Quite an accomplishment, even though it is such a small article."

Lex grinned at him as Julius tried to stifle his laughter. "You should know what that means. Not enough information. Tell me, Julius, old friend. Should I change my attire for something a bit more elegant? After all, we can't have my da-," He was harshly cut off as the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open and a hysterical Hermione Weasley ran inside. She rushed toward the Head Table and leaned into Lex.

She tried to catch her breath as she spoke. "Madam Pomfrey told me to come for you! Harry is having a terrible nightmare, but it's out of control! He just attacked her and Ron!"

"Shit!" he cursed softly, jumping quickly from his chair and running from the Great Hall with Weasley and Julius at his heels.

Severus dodged students easily, while Julius and Hermione had a bit of trouble keeping up.

"Snape!"

Lex could hear Black calling for him but he just continued running. He gave mental shout of relief as he reached the infirmary. "FUCK!" He cursed again, as he could feel the great amounts of dark magic emitting from the room.

Barreling through the door, Lex, Julius, Hermione, Sirius and Remus, who'd been following Sirius, froze as they came upon the scene. For a moment, Severus was sickened.

Kneeling on the floor in his hospital gown sobbing while holding his arms out before him was a very conscious Harry Potter. The man had tears rolling continuously down his face as he stared at what was happening before him.

Madam Pomfrey was slumped against the door of her office and Ronald Weasley was lying on the floor before Potter, unmoving and it looked as if he was barely moving. Blood was pooling all around the young man's body from cuts all over his body and every few moments the man's body would convulse. Of course this had something to do with what had sickened Lex.

It was what Potter was saying and doing. "StopstopstopSTOP-CRUCIO-leavemealone-CRUCIO-NO!-CRUCIO!" Every time the curse was screamed from Harry's lips, Weasley's body moved as if the man was having a seizure.

Hermione screamed at the sight of her husband causing Harry to look their way. Lex felt something in his chest tighten at the look on Potter's face.

The Potter he knew would never look at them with his face holding such blood thirst and hatred but Severus watched the eyes. They flickered not with color...but almost with personality. Not something many would really understand but you could see it. In those few moments, Severus could see hatred, bloodthirsty insanity, and death, but in the next he could see fear, pain, and confusion. /Shit! It's not suppose to take hold this fast. I need to check on those blood results/

Potter raised his hands and screamed, "DIE!" The eerie green light that Severus had never wanted to see again appeared before them.

Although, because it was an Unforgivable, Severus could have commanded the dark magic to begone, he didn't want members of the Order to know he had that kind of power. So, he brought up a shield. The Unforgivable seemed to be absorbed into the shield.

Harry Potter's body screamed in rage. "NO! DIE!" Another strike of the killing curse but it was again absorbed.

"STOP IT HARRY!"

Lex ignored the screams of Potter's friends. "Sorry I have to do this Potter."

Sirius was shocked to see his godson go flying across the room to crash into a wall.

Severus slowly lowered his hand and dropped the shield. Potter's body was slumped for a long moment before the young man's head rose. He looked up at them with unfocused eyes and started sobbing.

Sirius and Remus moved toward the crying man as Hermione and Julius rushed to check on Ron and Madam Pomfrey. "Harry?" They both moved slowly. "Harry, it's going to be alright."

"Siri?"

"Yeah, Harry. It's me. Me and Remus."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," cried Harry.

"Harry?" asked Sirius questioningly. He reached out to Harry.

"NO!"

Lex flinched at the scream and watched with an almost casual air as Potter managed to wandlessly throw his godparents across the room. /This is not good. Perhaps, I should try. After all, he can't kill me./

Severus moved closer to Potter. "Harry? Harry, you have to come back. Really come back." From what Lex could see, Severus knew that Harry was hallucinating.

The green eyes suddenly snapped into focus and looked closely at him. "Severus?"

Lex took a deep breath as he braced for a crash against the wall as he nodded. He was thankful he had braced himself or when Harry had thrown himself into Severus's arms, they would have fallen back.

Harry cried as he held onto Lex tightly. "Severus!" He buried his face in the Symbol's shoulder.

Severus ran a hand through the still unruly hair. "Hush. It's alright Harry. It's okay," whispered Lex as he began rocking the smaller body in his arms.

"So horrible. It was so horrible!" sobbed Harry.

Ignoring the people behind him, Lex gathered Harry into his arms and carried the man back into his room. "It's okay, Harry. I'm here."

TBC

Alia: Well! Do you like it so far! Questions, Comment? Come on guys review!


	12. Curious findings

Alia: I updated. (watches readers cheer or faint in shock) Yeah, yeah. Very funny. I now seem to have an extended writing groove so you may see another update to this in (gasps) a week! Don't count your chickens though. I've also edited all of the other chapters for WDCA. So if you want, you can go back through. Might I suggest you guys peek back at the curse on Harry. It's much more clear now!

Thank you guys for voting for my story ideas and it seems that everyone loves the living Hogwarts deal. I'm working on it in my head and after many trial and errors it's done. I'm going to start summarizing the story and sooner or later I'll get to writing it. I do, however, want to finish two stories before I try to tackle that one. If anyone is interested in being my beta for that when I get started, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for all of you guys that reviewed and despite how sorry this chapter actually is, I'm dedicating this chapter to **Melissa Jooty**, who really seems to like this story.

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 12

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (you're getting warmer)

SPOILERS: up to book four

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yeah, it's so late. Thank god it doesn't have an expiration date but hey...I updated.

With Darkness Comes Anew 11

Severus sat on the bed with Harry curled up in his lap. The young wizard continued to sob pitifully in his arms, clutching to Severus desperately. Closing his eyes for a moment and dropping his chin on the young wizard's head, Lex concentrated on what was happening on the outside of Potter's room. He could hear hurried whispered and a few weak cries of pain. It was rather obvious that they were taking care of Weasley's injuries.

A few more loud whispers told Severus that Lupin and Black weren't too hurt from their rag doll experience.

Lex rocked Harry gently, trying to offer as much comfort as possible. "It's alright, Harry."

The man shook his head. "No! It's not okay. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it!" He cried. "It was so awful, Severus!" He buried his head into Lex's chest.

"Shh." He brushed a few strands of hair from Harry's forehead. "Don't be afraid. We're gonna help you Harry. I promise."

"What happened? What's wrong with me!"

Lex then realized that the young man before him didn't know what was going on. Apparently when he'd first awakened, Madam Pomfrey had either brushed off his questions or Harry hadn't asked. /Bloody hell./

"Give it a little time, Harry."

The man shook his head furiously as he buried himself further into Severus's arms. "NO!" he cried. "What happened! I hurt Ron, why did I hurt Ron! I didn't want to, Severus, but I couldn't stop it!"

"Harry, you must calm down before I'm able to tell you anything about what is happening."

A weak sob issued from Harry, "But-,"

"Hush." He whispered comforting words and noises to the young man so that he would calm down sooner. It was something most parents knew about from comforting their children.

Lex's head snapped up at the sound of the doorknob turning, but he didn't stop whispering to Harry. Lupin's head slowly moved into the room followed by the rest of him. The werewolf looked at Harry's pitiful state then at Severus questioningly. Lex shook his head and turned back to Harry. Lupin slipped back out, closing the door behind him.

"Severus...please?" the weary voice whispered minutes later.

He squeezed the young man for a moment. "It's a bit hard to explain Harry. Do you remember being at the Weasleys' and receiving that vial from Gringotts..."

* * *

Albus and Minerva hurried toward the infirmary with as much speed as he could muster. The older man had been shocked to see a frightened Hermione rush into the Great Hall to alert Severus and Julius of Harry's out of control nightmares. 

Albus gasped as he saw the scene in the infirmary. A badly bruised Sirius stood near the door of a private room. Remus, who looked only slightly better to the animagus, was trying to help the other man to a seat.

A large pool of slowly congealing blood drew their attention from smell alone. Albus flinched. Minerva suddenly needed the support of the doorway to keep her standing. She covered her mouth in shock.

Albus's eyes followed the trail of blood swiftly to a blood soaked bed. Julius was rushing away toward Poppy's office as she and Hermione were working furiously to help the man on the bed. From the tuft of bright red hair, Albus could see that it was Ron.

"Mr. Weasley!" cried Minerva as she caught sight of the condition of her former student.

While Minerva rushed over to help Ron, Albus quickly made his way over to Remus and Sirius. "What has happened?" demanded the Headmaster.

Sirius wouldn't look up from the ground so Remus, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion, answered. "We don't really know. I...I think it may be the curse but I'm not quite sure. When we ran in, Harry was cursing Ron with an Unforgivable." He grimaced at his memory of the scene.

"Severus...God, Albus you should have seen him. He's the only reason we aren't dead right now. Harry was throwing the killing curse at us!"

Albus's eyes widened but he motioned for Remus to continue.

"He was crying the entire time, Albus. It was like he just could not stop. Harry was talking so incoherently... I don't know how he could anything in the first place. He didn't even have his wand!" Remus ran a hand through his greying hair. "I think Severus threw him back into a wall. He managed to do it without hurting Harry too much though. Then, Merlin, Albus, he just curled up crying. I don't think Harry had any control over what was happening to him."

He sighed. "Sirius and I tried to comfort him, but it wasn't over yet. It seemed like his magic lashed out at us. We were tossed across the room like dolls."

"What then?" asked an increasingly worried Dumbledore.

"Severus tried. Harry seemed to recognize him. Severus managed to stop whatever was happening. He took Harry in the room just a minute ago." Remus pointed at the door Sirius stood near.

"Are they alright? Both of them?"

"I just checked on them. Severus is trying to calm Harry down for the moment."

Sirius looked at the door for a long moment before storming over to try and lend a hand with Ron. Both men watched him with a look of confusion before comprehension dawned on Albus's face.

The old wizard shook his head before turning to the door. "Do you know how long they will be?"

Remus shook his head. The werewolf and the headmaster jumped suddenly when a scream came from the door behind them.

Remus was the first through, followed by Albus, Sirius and a distraught Julius. All four men were surprised to see Harry standing on the bed, his green eyes now an inky black. "FUCK YOU! IT'S NOT TRUE!"

Severus stood to the side, facing the wizard. "Harry, come down! That's why I'm here. I'm going to help." He was worried about Harry's eyes. /That shouldn't be happening./

Something in Harry's demeanor changed, but Lex was the only one that saw it. The way Harry looked at him suddenly was so familiar. There was a power there but at the same time...fear and utter helplessness...but it didn't look the way it should have from Harry.

/What the hell/ It quickly disappeared though. Harry stretched out a hand and opened his mouth to shout a curse.

Lex moved too fast for him, however. He reached out with a hand and roughly struck Harry across the face, the sound echoing through the room. The hit was strong enough to knock the young man off the bed to the ground easily.

"Harry!" Sirius and Remus ran toward the young man in concern. Albus remained where he was and Julius stood beside him. Lex stood on the opposite side of the bed, his head down and his eyes closed.

Had they been open, everyone in the room would have been shocked to see that his eyes had gone completely black. /I'm responding? Alexander's responding? That shouldn't be possible. What did I see/

Harry lay on the floor sobbing softly. Seeing his godson in such despair, Sirius stood up and stormed toward Severus only to have Julius stop him in his tracks. Julius looked Sirius straight in the eye and squeezed his arm tightly. "Believe me, Black. You don't want to anger him right now."

Dumbledore watched Severus closely. Lex was taking deep breaths as he tried to keep his temper. At least it looked that way to Albus. Lex knew differently. He was trying to keep his power in check. The look Harry had given him left him unsettled. He felt comfortable enough to open his eyes now that everything was calm.

Lex stood and walked toward the fallen Harry. Remus tensed, not knowing the man's intention. While he was pleased that Harry was himself again, he didn't like the way that Snape had done it. The werewolf found himself relaxing when Lex knelt down beside them and gently ran a hand through Harry's hair.

Pulling the wizard away from Remus, Severus stood with Harry curled up in his arms. He laid the crying man down on the bed.

"Alex? Can you please tell us what is going on?" asked Albus.

Lex pulled the blanket up over Harry. The young man turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Severus smiled gently. "It's alright Harry." For a moment, Lex's eyes unfocused. "It wasn't you." /I think I may have an idea. But it couldn't be possible.../ His face darkened. /It had better not be./

Straightening, Lex turned to Albus. "What you saw were the first symptoms of Mr. Potter reacting with the curse. When I alerted him to his current situation...he didn't take it well. It was a bit of a shock to his system and because of it, the sick joke of an immortality spell rose up." Severus gave Harry a sad look. "This is moving much faster than I predicted."

"It's taking over." Harry had sat up in the bed, pulling his knees to his chest. When Severus had explained what had happened and what was going to happen, Harry hadn't wanted to believe it. But his own behavior was erasing his disbelief.

"Yes." Lex also had an idea why. When Harry had fought Voldemort, he'd fought with nothing but the darkest magics just as the Dark Lord had. This practically branded his aura with darkness. /Yes, that could be it...except for that last curse he threw at Voldemort. What was that/ All Severus remembered was a bright light. /I'll have to think on it more later./ He shook his head. /Things are not adding up properly./

"Julian, give me the medallion by the bed." He looked back at Harry. "I wanted to wait until you were stronger but I see that we need to hurry this up." Lex sat on the edge of the bed and took the green medallion from Julius.

Harry looked curiously at the brilliant diamond medallion his former professor held in his hand. "What's that?"

Severus let the medallion dangled before his former student. The diamond glistened in the light coming through a window. "This is a scanner. It's going to scan your magical aura and tell me what the curse has done to it." Whether Harry's power was stronger and darker was what he needed to know.

"Is it going to hurt?" Harry felt he'd had enough for one day.

Lex shook his head. "Not at all now that your injuries have been healed." He sat on the edge of the bed beside Harry and put the necklace of the medallion around his neck. "Lie back and rest. This is going to a few hours."

Harry nodded silently.

Severus turned to Sirius and Remus. "Keep an eye on him. If he loses control again, find me immediately."

"You're leaving?" asked Harry before anyone else. He laid a hand on Severus's arm.

"For a short time. I'm going down to the potions lab to look at your results." He'd left several experiments to finish overnight. He needed to check on them quickly and see what the potion was doing to Harry physically. The curse usually didn't harm an individual physically.

"How will we know when the scan is finished?" asked Dumbledore.

"The diamond in the middle will turn black every five seconds. Contact me the moment you notice it. Julius, I want you to stay here."

The werewolf looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"You're the only one that could really survive a confrontation with Potter if what happened before occurred again." The two looked at each other for a long moment then Julius nodded in understanding. Unlike Lupin, Julius could change at will.

"Alex, do you know what signs we need just in case Harry loses control again?"

Harry blinked in surprise and looked at the Headmaster. /Why did he call him Alex? I know this is Severus./ His former professor had certainly changed, and for the better, but Harry could recognize him anywhere.

"Harry will know." Lex turned to the young wizard. "Tell them when you do."

Potter nodded. "Thank you, Severus."

"Rest." He left the room and headed for the dungeons. /What is going on? Things aren't right./ But what was it?

Julius sat in a nearby chair as Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, why are you calling Severus Alex?"

The Headmaster looked inquisitively at Harry. "Why are you calling him Severus, Harry?"

The young man blushed, not able to answer. Julius smirked at him causing Harry to glare at him. "No reason." Not one of them believed him.

"How long has he been here?" asked Harry.

"Since yesterday. I've known Alexander for a couple years through a mutual friend." Julius responded.

Harry blinked in surprise at the name, then things finally clicked into his mind. /Alexander Evanson was the name I gave him for the muggle world./ "Oh. He's been in the wizarding world all this time?"

Julius shook his head. "No. I met Lex through a muggle friend." At least he'd thought Brea was a muggle at the time.

"You don't seem very upset to have him here, Harry." Sirius honestly wondered if Harry was in shock from the latest events or was suffering from an information overload.

"Isn't he here to help me, Sirius?"

Black snorted. "That's what he says." Remus sighed and Julius glowered at the wizard.

Harry went on. "I don't want to seem ungrateful. I'm very happy that something can be done about what's happening to me."

Dumbledore gave Harry a long look. The older wizard knew that there was something more. He turned to Julius. "Do you have any idea how Harry's results will come out, Julius?"

He shook his head. "No clue, but hopefully it will be good news." Unfortunately, he'd noticed a slightly disturbed look on Lex's face.

* * *

Severus tipped a few drops of Harry's blood onto a blank sheet of parchment that sat on top of a thin sheet of metal. He took a vial filled with a pale blue liquid and gently poured a single drop into the little red puddle. Immediately, the components of Harry's blood began breaking down. 

Nodding approvingly, Lex eyed the blood and noticed that it looked perfectly healthy. /But looks can be deceiving./ Raising his left hand over the parchment, he whispered a soft chant, keeping his magical flow steady. If he didn't, something might go terribly wrong.

It was rather dangerous to break something down to its natural elements without assistance but he needed to see this. His eyes darkened as he called on a great deal of power to accomplish his goal.

It moved slowly. Unnoticed by Severus, who was extremely deep in concentration, time flew by quickly. Seconds, minutes, then hours passed before Lex finally pulled away.

He pulled away and leaned back against the wall, his breaths coming hard in his chest. He felt the weariness in his body but a smug look of triumph overtook his face. /We're going stronger./ The bond between him and his element was growing. /Mother never told us what happens if this continues./ Pushing the thought aside for later, Severus turned to see the results.

With the curse being what it was and Harry being who he was, the elements should be slightly out of balance and growing more so because of the curse.

Severus looked at the parchment...and blinked. "What in...What is going on here?"

TBC

REVIEW


	13. A Symbol's sighting

Alia: I know it's not much but hey, I updated. I've got more direction with this story and I have one last chapter done for TTS then I'll concentrate on finishing L&DD and Second Chances. Sorry, it took so long but I wanted to update it around the same time I did the last installment of TTS.

TITLE: With Darkness Comes Anew

AUTHOR: Alia

STATUS/PART: 13

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Severus Snape / (I don't even know)

SPOILERS: up to book four

WARNINGS: angst, language

DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway or fashion own HP, etc. It belongs to JKR. curses

SUMMARY: Leaving the Wizarding World after a devastating betrayal, Severus starts a road in life that will eventually rock his world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes, it's so late, thank god it doesn't have an expiration date but hey...I updated.

With Darkness Comes Anew 13

Severus shook his head in disbelief. /What the bloody hell is going on here! This shouldn't be possible./ The results certainly weren't what Lex had been expecting.

He frowned deeply. "Shit. So what does this mean for Potter?" He moved away from the table and sat on nearby stool to think.

Seeing the results of the test left Severus dumbfounded. /This is impossible. Harry's body, much less his magic, shouldn't be able to do or handle something like this./ Standing, Lex began pacing slowly.

/Alright. Let's see what I know so far. I can ask questions as I go. Potter gets a package that is supposedly from Gringotts containing a vial that looks a great deal like a pensive liquid. Pensive liquid/ Severus paused.

/Did it contain a memory? I don't think it was mentioned. And was it really pensive liquid? I seriously doubt that./ He rubbed his forehead as he continued pacing. /Hopefully they have a sample of anything that was left. I need to see what that potion really was. I'll have to speak to Granger about it later. Now what's next? The explosion from the liquid blows a hole larger than my fist into Potter's chest./

/Harry is brought to Hogwarts./ Lex shook his head, not even bothering to wonder why the younger wizard didn't go to St. Mungo's. There would have been nothing for them to do anyway. /Julius's spell, which is rather complicated anyway bloody way, doesn't work the first time. Caesar teaches Weasley and Granger the spell and it doesn't work when the three of them try it. Understandable because of the curse./

/Julius scans Harry and comes up with the curse. The curse? It's a vengeance curse./ And being a vengeance curse, Lex knew more about that curse than anyone, even Julius. It was actually a retribution curse in the beginning, but when evil wizards or witches with darker intentions used it things went to hell quickly.

Unknown to Julius, it actually wasn't an immortality curse. The immortality was usually used as part of the revenge as in Harry's case. Usually euthanasia was the cure before it went too far.

Severus's eyes narrowed. /And I have a strong feeling that Voldemort really did cast this curse on Potter./ There was no doubt in Severus's mind that the spell was on Harry. The problem was that something else had gone wrong.

/Something with that damn potion. It has to be./ Shaking his head, Lex continued with his thoughts. Everything else was inconsequential until...until he tried to heal Potter. /I don't believe I didn't notice it./ Severus had certainly been surprised.

It should have been rather simple to move the injuries from Potter's body to Weasley's. Severus was a Symbol and practically being tied to an Element made things incredibly easy. He shouldn't have had to struggle but it felt as if something had been fighting him. It had only happened for a tenth of a second but that was significant enough to catch his attention now that he looked back on the entire thing.

/Great. Just something else to this mystery. This is ridiculous. Now what about Potter's behavior the next morning/ The spell shouldn't have been moving so swiftly but it definitely was. Severus glanced at the paper that sat innocently on the lab table. /And I have a feeling what it is. Problem is that it makes no damn sense. What the fuck did that potion do? And was it even the potion/

It would take over a week for Potter's physical body to react in such a way, especially since it was fully healed. There was also something extremely foul about the way Harry reacted in the infirmary. His body was not supposed to lose control like that. It was supposed to be from Harry's own will. His body appeared to be under the control of another.

"Fuck." Severus instantly remembered the look on Harry's face. The one that had cause his hackles to rise and strike out so viciously at the younger man. /But what is this/ He turned to look at the paper.

"Why do I have the worst feeling that this is something over even my head?" Lex snarled, his eyes totally black, as he walked over to another cauldron, searching for the latest results on his other experiments on Potter's health. All came up perfectly normal. Severus hated the fact that he couldn't really decipher what was going on.

/Merlin, what do I tell Harry/ thought Lex hopelessly.

* * *

Harry twiddled his thumbs as he looked around the room at the silent group of wizards and witches. It had been at least four hours since Severus had disappeared into the dungeons. And after some time, the sounds outside of the door quieted down. During the last few hours, he'd been regularly checking the strange medallion on his chest. 

/Will he really be able to help me/ The fact that he was cursed frightened him but when Julius told him about what could be the final result of his curse, against his godfather's wishes but with Dumbledore's urging, had Madam Pomfrey running into the room with a calming potion.

At the moment, Fryer was grading a stack of papers that had a house elf bring him, muttering about the stupidity of his students' answers. Dumbledore was in deep thought as he carefully chewed another lemon drop. Sirius and Remus were in deep whispered conversation with each other and from Sirius's expression, whatever Remus was saying was not good.

The door opened and an exhausted Madam Pomfrey entered. She smiled weakly at Harry. "You appear to be doing rather well Mr. Potter?"

"How is Ron?" he asked softly, afraid that he'd ended his best friend's life. /I am so sorry Ron. Hermione will never forgive me./

"He's fine," she said, happy to give the young man good news. "He had some nerve damage and some blood loss but a couple of potions and some rest are making everything better." She walked over and began examining him. Harry knew better than to argue.

Poppy eyed the medallion. "Where is that man? Shouldn't he be back by now?" She straightened the blankets around Harry.

Without even looking up from his papers, Julius said, "He said a few hours. He won't be back until the medallion goes off." He wrote an Acceptable on a student's paper.

"Goes off? What does that mean?"

"It will start blinking."

"Like now?" asked Poppy as she eyed the medallion. Every few seconds, the diamond in the center would turn totally black.

The group of wizards around her jumped to their feet as Harry stared down at the slowly blinking diamond. "Professor Fryer?" asked the younger wizard, worry clear in his voice.

Black reached out a hand toward the diamond only to have it caught by Julius. "Don't. I don't know too much about this diamond but if it's from who I think it is, Potter and Lex are the only ones able to touch it." Seeing Sirius's frown, he continued saying, "If you touch it, it'll either destroy your hand somehow or kill you. And it won't be a pleasant death."

Dumbledore frowned and just wondered who and what Severus, or Lex, was involved in. Sirius was pulled back slightly by Remus as Pomfrey moved back herself. Harry stared at medallion and gently touched it.

When nothing happened except for the continuing blinking of the diamond, he sighed in relief. He turned to the Headmaster. "Shouldn't someone get Severus?"

Albus nodded. "Quite right my boy. Remus, do you mind?"

The DADA professor looked rather reluctant. "Are you sure I shouldn't stay, Albus?"

Julius answered as Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. It has to be you. I can't leave Potter's side in case he has another episode, Dumbledore needs to stay and help me, and Black would only upset him." Julius grimaced as he remember the last time Lex had really lost his temper.

Harry rolled his eyes and snorted silently as Fryer called him losing control of his body an 'episode.'

Remus nodded, his reluctance still there, and headed for the dungeons. A few minutes later, however, the werewolf stood in the middle of the empty lab. "Alex?"

* * *

"THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE," whispered the Lady gently. Her eyes, totally white, looked at the information her brother's embodiment had discovered. 

Alexander, the Dark Knight, nodded as he contemplated his sister, his opposite. "I KNOW. YET IT IS." He tried to keep his voice calm but knew she could feel his anger.

The two stood in the middle of a wild field filled with wild flowers. Trees stood powerfully in the distance. The sun stood high in the sky and the Lady of the Light soaked up it's rays happily.

While Alexander stood in his formal robes, the Lady was kneeling upon the ground in a simple white spaghetti string gown that flowed gently around her, hiding her legs, feet, and surrounding ground. At the hem of the dress were white sun bursts embroidered into the cloth. Her hair fell to the middle of her back and every few moments, a lock went astray before moving smoothly back into place.

The two had come to the field because it was often dangerous to be around mortals when they transformed. The amount of power was hazardous to them. If it hadn't been for strong spells placed on his apartment when Severus had become angered at Julius, he would have blown the building apart. /Thank Chaos for Zephyr./ thought Alexander.

"I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS WHAT THIS COULD MEAN?" It was whispered, yet their voices continued to ring with power. They usually toned it down but that atmosphere was somewhat comforting. It would be better if it was closer to nightfall for Alexander.

"I CAN THINK OF NOTHING, DARK KNIGHT. HE HAS TOO MUCH LIGHT IN HIM, YET HIS DARKNESS..."

"I CAN'T HELP BUT UNDERSTAND SEVERUS'S FEELINGS IN THIS MATTER. SOMETHING IS VERY FOUL ABOUT ALL OF THIS."

"THE POTION HOLDS THE KEY," said the Lady of the Light.

The Dark Knight nodded. "I HAVE NOTICED."

"AND YOUR INSTINCTS. WHAT YOU SAID WAS SEEN WHEN THE BOY LOOKED AT YOU." She hadn't enjoyed her brother's descriptions of the event and had winced when she was told what it made him do.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE DONE? I- SEVERUS CANNOT POSSIBLY CONTINUE AS WE PLANNED."

The Lady paused as she looked at her unhappy Knight. "LOOKING AT THE RESULTS, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. SO NOW YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS."

"HE WON'T LET THE BOY BE PUT DOWN LIKE SOME DOG."

The Lady nodded her head once. "THEN YOU HAVE ONE CHOICE." She pointed at the paper that she laid down on the grass.

The Knight frowned then his eyes widened. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! THAT IS TOO DANGEROUS TO PERFORM ON A LIVING BREATHING CREATURE. ESPECIALLY A SENTIENT ONE!"

"THEN YOU MUST TRANSFORM HIM IN A DIFFERENT MANNER. YOU CANNOT SOLVE THIS ANY OTHER WAY WITHOUT A VERY SEVERE CHANGE. I CANNOT OFFER YOU ANSWERS, BROTHER," she said apologetically. "FOR I HAVE NONE MYSELF. BUT I BELIEVE YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING TO SAVE THIS CHILD. IF ANYONE CAN DO IT, IT IS YOU. IN THE MEANTIME..." She stood and walked over to him.

He smiled as she pressed a delicate kiss to his cheek. Chiara took a step back and bowed slightly. She now wore a pink sun dress. "The kids miss you and Emma's been a bit cranky without her daddy."

The Dark Knight's stoic face slowly disappeared and he smiled. His eyes quickly changed back to normal and a split second later, Severus stood before her in his shirt and jeans. "Tell them that's I'll see them soon. Unfortunately, I have to go back and break the news."

Chiara nodded sadly, and bent down. She picked up a large wildflower and gently coaxed the bee that had settled on it away. Severus eyed her and frowned. "Why don't you just banish it?"

"It's not polite, Lex," she replied playfully. He chuckled. "Because it's just a little harder to remove something that isn't really ours. Remember the time, my apartment flooded and I had to banish the water. It took a little more effort that it would have had I just called Sarah."

Lex frowned again before nodded as his face brightened slight with a ghost of an idea. "I think that you just gave me an idea. I'll have to see what I can do."

With a quick peck on her lips, Severus disappeared silently. Giggling, Chiara disappeared immediately after with a small flash of light.

* * *

"Lupin?" 

"Agh!" cried Remus as he flung himself around to look at who was behind him. His eyes widened when he saw Severus, who wore an amuse look and had a piece of paper in his hand, appear from the shadows in the back of the lab.

The professor was stunned. He could have sworn that no one but he was in the room and with his sensitive hearing, he would have definitely heard the potions master. Especially since he'd been in the room for a whole three minutes, wondering where Severus had gone. It was almost as if Severus had come through the walls but Remus knew that was impossible despite the numerous passages in Hogwarts.

"Did you want something, Lupin?" asked Lex coolly.

Swallowing harshly, Remus nodded. "Yes. Harry's- well the medallion has started the blinking that you mentioned. Dumbledore sent me to get you."

"And what a marvelous little errand boy you are, Lupin. Let's go." Lex hurried from the room, folding the paper in his hands and pocketing it. Remus ran to keep up with him, shaking his head.

"How long ago did it start?" asked the dark haired man as he walked swiftly down the corridors of Hogwarts.

Remus noticed the familiarity of the walk and smiled as he answered. "Just a few minutes ago, not counting the time I couldn't find you."

Ignoring the unasked question, Severus nodded. "Has Potter lost control again during the last few hours?"

"No. He's been fine, a little sleepy but he's fine."

"No one else has touched the medallion, right?" Lex hoped not. He didn't feel like replacing any missing limbs.

"Thankfully. Poppy and Sirius almost did, but Poppy didn't want to skew the results and Julius warned Sirius about the dangers."

"I see." He was a bit disappointed that Black hadn't touched it.

It didn't take the two of them long before they reached the infirmary. Poppy was checking out the sleeping Ronald Weasley as his wife sat beside him. The witches looked up at them in relief.

Poppy patted Hermione on the hand before motioning the men to follow her into Harry's room quickly. "Thank Merlin. I thought you would never get back here. Poor Harry is at his wits end. The child is quite nervous."

Lex rolled his eyes while Remus smiled. Apparently Poppy forgot that the 'child' was a grown man. /Worse than the Headmaster./ Severus stepped into the room and was surprised when Harry brightened at his appearance.

Julius and Dumbledore caught Harry's look as well. Both men looked curious although Albus had a deeper suspicion. /Harry can't possibly have a crush can he/ But thinking about it made a small smile appear on his face.

Sirius was too busy throwing mild glares Severus's way to notice his godson's reaction to the man's presence. "What are you waiting for? Check the ugly jewelry so we know what's wrong with Harry."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Black, you know what's wrong with him. He's cursed." /Damn if it was only that simple./

Julius frowned. "Lex, what did you find?" He didn't like the expression on his friend's face. It seemed a little ominous.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" asked Lex. All but Julius stiffened or paled in fear. Harry's eyes widened as he wondered what exactly that meant.

Julius glared at him. "I know you too well, Lex. Good news is just bad news too."

"Not really. I have an idea of what is wrong with Potter."

"And the bad news?" asked Harry nervously.

"Actually that was some of the bad news too. I won't totally know what is happening until you have another...attack." The Lady had told him that his instincts might have the answer. He was definitely going to follow that advice. "There was something...off about your results. All the regular tests that can be done by St. Mungo's, and some personal ones, showed that you were physically fine."

"But-," snapped Sirius impatiently.

"But the last test showed something...very different." He sighed with annoyance. "I can't give you any straight answers because I still need more information." Ignoring the various questions shooting at him, Lex turned to Harry. "Take off the medallion. I think that's enough for now."

Harry nodded but flinched when he touched the medallion. "Severus..." The beautiful green eyes looked at the potions master in horror.

The Symbol stilled as Harry eyes smoothly darkened. "Shit. Get back! Poppy, leave! NOW." The others scrambled away from the bed and a reluctant Madam Pomfrey left the room, locking the door behind her. Lex began issuing orders as the wizard with black eyes stood on his hospital bed. "Dumbledore, you, Lupin, and Black defend yourselves. Julius, get ready!"

The werewolf removed his robes as he carefully moved to Severus's side, never taking his eyes off the smirking wizard in front of him.

Suddenly, Harry's body was in motion. "Crucio!" he cried as he threw his bare hands in Lex and Julian's direction.

The dark mage threw up a shield, allowing the spell to dissipate against the shield. Harry, however, was already aiming for the other occupants of the room.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" He roared, throwing the curse at the Headmaster.

Albus swiftly jumped out of the way. The curse hit the wall just as Harry threw a cutting curse in Remus and Sirius's directions. Sirius was hit in the arm and shoulder. Remus managed to partially block the curse with his own shield, preventing any harm.

Severus made a movement to bind Harry when the black eyes turned in his direction. A circle of fire surrounded him and Julius. With a smirk, he turned to Dumbledore. "EXPELLIARMUS!" Albus instantly lost his wand before he had time to move.

Lex and Julius blinked then looked at each other, Julius in shocked, Severus more curious. "Huh," said Severus. "I didn't see that coming." He raised his hand out only for the blaze of fire to rise and an individual flame flicked out at his hand viciously. Lex pulled it back to avoid having his hand burnt to a crisp. "Very interesting. It's been a while since I've seen that kind of boundary curse. Would make a nice ward."

"Lex, as nice as it is, and believe me when I say I'm interested, could you-," he motioned his hands wildly toward the other three wizards in the room who were running for their lives from the massive amount of dark curses coming their way.

Severus smirked and raised his hand, instantly destorying the curse holding them in place. Another wave of the hand and three impenetrable shield fell over Dumbledore, Lupin, and Black, preventing them from being harmed by Harry's body.

"NO!" Harry screamed in rage as the dark eyes glared at Severus hatefully.

The potions master stiffened as the familiar feeling overcame him. The unsettling feeling caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise and for his body to tense, ready to fight. The look Potter was throwing at him changed for a moment just as it had before. The black eyes shone with fear and utter helplessness, but again, it wasn't Harry Potter looking at him. It was... /So damn familiar why is it...NO./ The medallion had caught Severus's eyes.

The metal around the medallion was no longer green but a deep onyx color. The diamond that had been flashing black was now glowing red.

Lex was enraged at what he finally figured out. "I don't believe it! It's not fucking possible!" A sharp hand movement had Harry lying back on the bed, restrained by magical means.

Severus began pacing back and forth furiously while a howling, cursing Harry Potter was strapped to the bed like a mad man. "RELEASE ME! LET ME GO YOU BASTARD! DAMN YOU SNAPE. LET ME GO! AHHHHH!"

Everyone flinched but Lex ignored them all as he continued to seethe in anger, muttering under his breath. "But it makes sense doesn't it? It shouldn't! Such a thing is against the rules but apparently is happening. I don't believe this. Who could it be? Who would so fucking stupid and arrogant to pull something and with this one. Shit and it still doesn't answer everything! What the HELL!" Severus snarled in anger.

Everyone flinched again, including Harry Potter, who had finally returned to his previous mental state. Severus stopped him muttering as he turned to the younger wizard. Harry looked exhausted, but Severus decided not to pay too much attention to it. "Poppy!"

The school's healer rushed into the room, eyes filled with concern. Lex pointed toward the weary looking wizard on the bed. "Check him." Severus quickly removed the restraints that he put on Harry.

"Alex, what was that?" asked Albus, somewhat shaken at seeing Harry like that.

Lex glared at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. "That is what is wrong with Potter." Before Albus could question his remark, Severus asked, "The potion he received. Was there any left after the explosion?"

Albus frowned. "I'll have to ask Shacklebolt. It was his team that went to the Burrow after Harry was brought here."

"As soon as you find that it the better. I need to confirm my suspicions." Severus looked at Harry. The young wizard met his gaze. "Let's hope that I'm wrong."

"And if you are?" asked Julius.

Severus didn't say anything, but his eyes spoke volumes.

TBC

Alia:...Review.


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